Principles of Compensation
(Malik Speaking)

 
Source

MAIN PATH: Fred
 
 
Fred
 
Malik
 

Your principle sounds narrow, but some form of compensation is owed to black people in this country. I agree with you on that.

Fundamentally, blacks were forced to labor for the American economy. The product of their labor, cotton and other products, was traded to England and to other places. The profits were important for developing this country. But the profits went to white slave owners, shippers, bankers, manufacturers, and others. And that includes ordinary white people who worked for the shippers or sold food to the planters, and so on. Those profits were stolen property that should be returned. Call it compensation if you wish. I prefer to call it reparations.

Reference: For a view of American economic history that emphasizes the importance of the cotton trade, read Douglas North on American economic development.

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