Principles of Compensation
(John Speaking)

 
 

MAIN PATH: Fred
 
 
Fred
 
 
 

Let me jump in here. What if children are harmed indirectly when parents are harmed AND the white job applicant had little or nothing to do with that harm? Both of these things can be true at the same time. Ideally the children would be compensated for the harm they and their families have suffered, but we can't blame the white job applicant for that harm. Maybe the white applicant wasn't even alive when the harm was done to the black applicant's parents. Our original principle of compensation doesn't seem to help us here.

If we go back to the property analogy, maybe that can help. When we make A's children give property back to B because it was stolen, the children may be completely innocent. They just happen to be in possession of stolen property. They came to have it in an illegitimate way, perhaps without knowing its history.

We wouldn't say that the children have no obligation to return the property because they are innocent. I think we all agree on that.

Ariadne Home Affirmative Action
Bibliography		 Affirmative Action
Home