Endgame Viable

Yesterday I linked to a story about reparations over slavery. It was also mentioned on the bastion of multicultural sensitivity, Michelle Malkin’s Hot Air blog.

My gut reaction is that it’s probably a bad idea, most likely dreamed up by an ambulance-chasing lawyer. I don’t see what monetary compensations are going to accomplish this many generations later. It sounds like a hollow gesture. If somebody really wants to send money somewhere to atone for slavery, they should send reparations to Africa. It would simultaneously effect an apology and funnel money to a worthy cause. Africa can certainly use the money a lot more than black America can. (Assuming that the money actually gets to the people and not some drug-dealing, food-hoarding, Sharia-spreading warlord, that is.)

You might think I’m trying to sweep slavery under the carpet. To that I would say I agree with Virginia Senate hopeful Jim Webb, who suggests that affirmative action programs should revert back to their original intent of compensating African Americans for slavery and oppression. I never thought affirmative action made any sense until I heard it from Webb’s point of view. Now, I realize it really does have some societal value. But it should be limited to groups that were singled out and treated badly. Native Americans and African Americans are the only ones who deserve some kind of preferential treatment based solely on the color of their skin. (And before you panic, I don’t think those preferences should be limitless, either. A “head start” is all I would condone, and I think affirmative action should expire at some point in the future.)