On my new weekly program, Shock and Awe, I had a spirited conversation with the former head of the NAACP, Dr. Benjamin Chavis. The show airs on Vidgo, a worldwide streaming service, and is designed to deliver the smartest people in the country in robust debate.
Anyway, Dr. Chavis supports direct cash payments by the federal government to African-Americans. Reparations. I see that as disastrous.
There are two truths here. First, early America used slaves to allow whites to make money. In stone fact. However, hundreds of thousands of Americans, under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, were killed or maimed, destroying slavery during the Civil War.
To make their ancestors, us, pay for the historical injustice of slavery today is folly. That would open a nonstop campaign to fund other historical atrocities, and there are many.
The second truth is that reparations would fracture current white-black interactions. There would be massive resentment on the part of taxpaying Americans who are struggling economically. Why create that?
Of course, Ben Chavis sees it differently, and I respect his point of view. But I don't believe reparations will ever happen.
Enjoy the weekend. New column Sunday noon.
