The Case for Reparations
By Michael Douglas Carlin
I rarely weigh in on political campaigns, I try to let the candidates speak for themselves. You are going to read Joe Collins’ message here, in another Century City News article, but I have spent some time with him discussing issues that I feel need to be addressed. Many of you know that I have spent time in the inner city listening to many stories of the actual people that have lived through various struggles, some of their own making, but many that were thrust upon them by outside forces. I am still working on the six inmate cases that sit, innocent of the crimes they were convicted of, in prison. I believe in their innocence and have learned from their stories. The inner-cities need our help! Local politicians can only do so much. Federal help must come if the inner-cities are to be addressed and rebuilt. Joe Collins has access to Washington D.C. in a bipartisan way that will serve his community much better than Maxine Waters. I look at what she was able to achieve early in her career and I must commend her for all of those accomplishments. There comes a time in every person’s life when it is time to move on and let younger people take the reins. We are at that cross-roads. Joe is the better candidate today.
Joe and I don’t agree on everything. You won’t agree with him on everything either, but he has looked at the fabric we call America from a much different place than all of us. He grew up in South Central Los Angeles and served America for 13 years in the U.S Navy. That gives him a unique perspective but it also gives him access. He has backing from D.C. and he has contacts that can help the people of Los Angeles.
The House of Representatives recently passed a 67 million dollar reparations bill to give same sex couples tax refunds for their marriages that were not previously recognized. This opens the door for the conversation about slavery reparations. That conversation is coming, like it or not. There is no possible way that this does not become a campaign issue in 2020. I know the standard response is that no person alive today is responsible for any of the slavery of the past. The issue is much deeper than that. Joe Collins may be a significant voice in the coming conversation as he is on the pulse of the sentiment in the inner cities.
Six years ago I would have weighed in with many that say this is not something we should address. My time in South Central and Compton has given me a much different perspective. Also, having interviewed Sheriff Lee Baca, Las Vegas Detective Gordon Martines, Special FBI Agent in Charge Mat Perez, LAPD Detective Russell Poole, and Former Mexican Federal Agent Roberto Urquidi has given me a much different perspective on the war on drugs. Gary Webb and Michael Ruppert provided significant evidence that the CIA was involved in the drug trade to raise money for covert activities. This activity targeted black families and decimated them with crack cocaine. There are other events in history that we don’t learn in school where blacks were targeted by our government. You can look up many of these events if you are interested including: Black Wall Street, Rosewood Massacre, Memphis Massacre, Elaine Arkansas, Jim Crow Laws, Lynchings, Clinton/Biden Crime Bill targeting Blacks, Black Panther infiltration, and war on drugs.
During one of my visits to Compton I brought up the Constitution. I was shocked by the response. "How can I believe in a document that doesn’t apply to me.” I defended our Constitution. "According to that document I am only 3/5ths of a human (3/5ths Compromise).” He is not alone in the belief that the Constitution does not apply to him. There are many in the inner cities that hold this belief. They also don’t feel that the phrase, "Liberty and Justice for all,” applies to them because they have seen (many times first hand) that the justice system is heavily weighted against them. I have case files of six inmates that didn’t get fair trials. There was a finger on the scales of justice in their cases. In some of those cases, two police officers that have recently been convicted of drug trafficking and money laundering had a hand in putting them behind bars, there were indications that this drug trafficking goes back to the ’80’s which would have tainted these cases… and yet nobody (except me) is looking into these cases. So the anger that I have experienced in the inner cities could easily be justified. Add to this the trap door in the 13th Amendment that ended slavery that reads, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place to their jurisdiction.” Why couldn’t this Amendment simply eliminate slavery? Instead, there had to be a catch, there had to be a racist provision built in to target blacks.
John Ehrlichman, Nixon Domestic policy chief told writer Dan Baum, "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I am saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities.” He continued, "We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
In the ’80’s this policy was expanded with the advent of crack cocaine and the ’94 Biden backed crime law, blacks were again targeted. Powder cocaine (a wealthy person’s drug) had one set of penalties while crack (a poor person’s drug) had severe penalties. So it may be true that no person alive today had anything to do with slavery but that 13th Amendment Trap Door was used to target blacks that were called 3/5th of a human in our Constitution. Many families were destroyed by this crack epidemic. Prison populations swelled. Add to that the knowledge that Gary Webb & Michael Ruppert exposed, namely that a faction of our government was behind this destruction of minority families to raise money for covert activities. There are many people alive today that were part of this genocide. Even though nobody alive today was part of slavery, assets that were created by slavery exist today. Many of these have been passed down to today’s generations. Hands that created those assets would have liked to hand down assets to their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
There are many people alive today that were victims of these policies or descendants of the men and women that created the assets that America benefits from so the conversation about Reparations is overdue and the time to discuss this is now.
Here are my thoughts:
Laws must be changed to eliminate any and all systemic racism. It can simply be "no person shall be discriminated against for any reason” that becomes the law of the land. It should also be made clear that no person is 3/5ths of a human - all are equal under the law. Judicial reform must include every person accused of a crime having access to a proper defense. Then every person that sits in prison that even had any contact with a corrupt police officer, prosecutor, attorney, or judge must have their case reviewed including my six inmates that sit innocent in prison.
When it comes to investing in creating opportunities we know that social programs have created aid-dependency and that has not been positive for the inner cities. Steady checks that take away dignity of hard work have created urban blight. We can’t simply hand out money without accountability or responsibility. Any investment in education must meet the recipients half way. They need to take their studies seriously or get kicked out of programs. They must do their part and study hard to learn skills that America needs in the workforce. Can we do more?
In 2011, I visited the Southern Philippines. I met a man engaged in micro finance. A water-buffalo would completely transform the life of a farmer. He loaned on basic banking principles. Good character, they got the loan. What began with 10 water-buffalos years previous had grown into a herd of over 2000. Additionally, he had branched out to chickens, ducks, crops and other items needed in the community. His model worked. I was in the Southern Philippines that was considered extremely dangerous at the time and I never felt like my life was in danger because what he created was a network of safety. As we visited farmers, they would roll out the red carpet for us. He had a log book and during the visit many would pay what they owed on their debts. That gave him added capital to loan to other farmers.
We all know that drug trafficking and money laundering profits gave us some of the best music ever recorded. Many have speculated that if drug trafficking was stopped the banking system would collapse. Why not create micro-financing through existing or new charities that could submit to government their requests for grants every year by demonstrating what they had accomplished in previous years. If they were responsible with a million dollars, give them ten. If they were not responsible, cut them off or put them on probation. A grant of a million dollars could allow for say $100,000 of overhead but the rest must hit the mark. What if they in turn accepted proposals for small businesses, educational grants, art projects including music, film and television programming. If the grant makes sense it should be funded. If the project succeeds the money should be repaid and the fund inside the charity expands giving the charity better standing for future grants. Think of the businesses that could be launched, the innovation, the art, the music, the programming… we could truly begin the most prosperous era in human history.
41 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were slave owners. They signed on that "All men are created equal.” All the signers risked their lives knowing that it wasn’t true then but it ought to be. They provided the vision of where we needed to take this country and now with the conversation about Reparations we have the ability to make these words true for the first time in history.
12.5 million people were uprooted from their lives in Africa. 10 million made it to the African shores. Less than 7.5 million made it to the American shores. 5 million people were murdered or perished from the conditions of the voyage; their bodies were discarded in the sea along the way. Life expectancy for a slave was 6 years once they arrived. There were no pensions.
So now we have a great opportunity to right some of the wrongs. We can reach out to the inner-cities and embrace a new era by reforming laws to make all humans equal under the law. We can eliminate the 13th Amendment’s trap door into slavery. We can affirm that...No human in America is 3/5ths of a person. We can truly level the playing field for all people under the law. Police and civilians that commit crimes should receive the same treatment, same attorneys, same presumption of innocence. Laws should apply equally to all humans. As Reparations we should host a discussion about how to help without taking away dignity. I think micro financing might be an excellent way to acknowledge the past, honor the present, and build a better future. Reparations will not be fading from the American conversation.The House just passed a reparations bill. The door has been opened. The conversation is going to happen. Let’s all embrace the future and each other with open arms.
- Century City News
I rarely weigh in on political campaigns, I try to let the candidates speak for themselves. You are going to read Joe Collins’ message here, in another Century City News article, but I have spent some time with him discussing issues that I feel need to be addressed. Many of you know that I have spent time in the inner city listening to many stories of the actual people that have lived through various struggles, some of their own making, but many that were thrust upon them by outside forces. I am still working on the six inmate cases that sit, innocent of the crimes they were convicted of, in prison. I believe in their innocence and have learned from their stories. The inner-cities need our help! Local politicians can only do so much. Federal help must come if the inner-cities are to be addressed and rebuilt. Joe Collins has access to Washington D.C. in a bipartisan way that will serve his community much better than Maxine Waters. I look at what she was able to achieve early in her career and I must commend her for all of those accomplishments. There comes a time in every person’s life when it is time to move on and let younger people take the reins. We are at that cross-roads. Joe is the better candidate today.
Joe and I don’t agree on everything. You won’t agree with him on everything either, but he has looked at the fabric we call America from a much different place than all of us. He grew up in South Central Los Angeles and served America for 13 years in the U.S Navy. That gives him a unique perspective but it also gives him access. He has backing from D.C. and he has contacts that can help the people of Los Angeles.
The House of Representatives recently passed a 67 million dollar reparations bill to give same sex couples tax refunds for their marriages that were not previously recognized. This opens the door for the conversation about slavery reparations. That conversation is coming, like it or not. There is no possible way that this does not become a campaign issue in 2020. I know the standard response is that no person alive today is responsible for any of the slavery of the past. The issue is much deeper than that. Joe Collins may be a significant voice in the coming conversation as he is on the pulse of the sentiment in the inner cities.
Six years ago I would have weighed in with many that say this is not something we should address. My time in South Central and Compton has given me a much different perspective. Also, having interviewed Sheriff Lee Baca, Las Vegas Detective Gordon Martines, Special FBI Agent in Charge Mat Perez, LAPD Detective Russell Poole, and Former Mexican Federal Agent Roberto Urquidi has given me a much different perspective on the war on drugs. Gary Webb and Michael Ruppert provided significant evidence that the CIA was involved in the drug trade to raise money for covert activities. This activity targeted black families and decimated them with crack cocaine. There are other events in history that we don’t learn in school where blacks were targeted by our government. You can look up many of these events if you are interested including: Black Wall Street, Rosewood Massacre, Memphis Massacre, Elaine Arkansas, Jim Crow Laws, Lynchings, Clinton/Biden Crime Bill targeting Blacks, Black Panther infiltration, and war on drugs.
During one of my visits to Compton I brought up the Constitution. I was shocked by the response. "How can I believe in a document that doesn’t apply to me.” I defended our Constitution. "According to that document I am only 3/5ths of a human (3/5ths Compromise).” He is not alone in the belief that the Constitution does not apply to him. There are many in the inner cities that hold this belief. They also don’t feel that the phrase, "Liberty and Justice for all,” applies to them because they have seen (many times first hand) that the justice system is heavily weighted against them. I have case files of six inmates that didn’t get fair trials. There was a finger on the scales of justice in their cases. In some of those cases, two police officers that have recently been convicted of drug trafficking and money laundering had a hand in putting them behind bars, there were indications that this drug trafficking goes back to the ’80’s which would have tainted these cases… and yet nobody (except me) is looking into these cases. So the anger that I have experienced in the inner cities could easily be justified. Add to this the trap door in the 13th Amendment that ended slavery that reads, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place to their jurisdiction.” Why couldn’t this Amendment simply eliminate slavery? Instead, there had to be a catch, there had to be a racist provision built in to target blacks.
John Ehrlichman, Nixon Domestic policy chief told writer Dan Baum, "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I am saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities.” He continued, "We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
In the ’80’s this policy was expanded with the advent of crack cocaine and the ’94 Biden backed crime law, blacks were again targeted. Powder cocaine (a wealthy person’s drug) had one set of penalties while crack (a poor person’s drug) had severe penalties. So it may be true that no person alive today had anything to do with slavery but that 13th Amendment Trap Door was used to target blacks that were called 3/5th of a human in our Constitution. Many families were destroyed by this crack epidemic. Prison populations swelled. Add to that the knowledge that Gary Webb & Michael Ruppert exposed, namely that a faction of our government was behind this destruction of minority families to raise money for covert activities. There are many people alive today that were part of this genocide. Even though nobody alive today was part of slavery, assets that were created by slavery exist today. Many of these have been passed down to today’s generations. Hands that created those assets would have liked to hand down assets to their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
There are many people alive today that were victims of these policies or descendants of the men and women that created the assets that America benefits from so the conversation about Reparations is overdue and the time to discuss this is now.
Here are my thoughts:
Laws must be changed to eliminate any and all systemic racism. It can simply be "no person shall be discriminated against for any reason” that becomes the law of the land. It should also be made clear that no person is 3/5ths of a human - all are equal under the law. Judicial reform must include every person accused of a crime having access to a proper defense. Then every person that sits in prison that even had any contact with a corrupt police officer, prosecutor, attorney, or judge must have their case reviewed including my six inmates that sit innocent in prison.
When it comes to investing in creating opportunities we know that social programs have created aid-dependency and that has not been positive for the inner cities. Steady checks that take away dignity of hard work have created urban blight. We can’t simply hand out money without accountability or responsibility. Any investment in education must meet the recipients half way. They need to take their studies seriously or get kicked out of programs. They must do their part and study hard to learn skills that America needs in the workforce. Can we do more?
In 2011, I visited the Southern Philippines. I met a man engaged in micro finance. A water-buffalo would completely transform the life of a farmer. He loaned on basic banking principles. Good character, they got the loan. What began with 10 water-buffalos years previous had grown into a herd of over 2000. Additionally, he had branched out to chickens, ducks, crops and other items needed in the community. His model worked. I was in the Southern Philippines that was considered extremely dangerous at the time and I never felt like my life was in danger because what he created was a network of safety. As we visited farmers, they would roll out the red carpet for us. He had a log book and during the visit many would pay what they owed on their debts. That gave him added capital to loan to other farmers.
We all know that drug trafficking and money laundering profits gave us some of the best music ever recorded. Many have speculated that if drug trafficking was stopped the banking system would collapse. Why not create micro-financing through existing or new charities that could submit to government their requests for grants every year by demonstrating what they had accomplished in previous years. If they were responsible with a million dollars, give them ten. If they were not responsible, cut them off or put them on probation. A grant of a million dollars could allow for say $100,000 of overhead but the rest must hit the mark. What if they in turn accepted proposals for small businesses, educational grants, art projects including music, film and television programming. If the grant makes sense it should be funded. If the project succeeds the money should be repaid and the fund inside the charity expands giving the charity better standing for future grants. Think of the businesses that could be launched, the innovation, the art, the music, the programming… we could truly begin the most prosperous era in human history.
41 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were slave owners. They signed on that "All men are created equal.” All the signers risked their lives knowing that it wasn’t true then but it ought to be. They provided the vision of where we needed to take this country and now with the conversation about Reparations we have the ability to make these words true for the first time in history.
12.5 million people were uprooted from their lives in Africa. 10 million made it to the African shores. Less than 7.5 million made it to the American shores. 5 million people were murdered or perished from the conditions of the voyage; their bodies were discarded in the sea along the way. Life expectancy for a slave was 6 years once they arrived. There were no pensions.
So now we have a great opportunity to right some of the wrongs. We can reach out to the inner-cities and embrace a new era by reforming laws to make all humans equal under the law. We can eliminate the 13th Amendment’s trap door into slavery. We can affirm that...No human in America is 3/5ths of a person. We can truly level the playing field for all people under the law. Police and civilians that commit crimes should receive the same treatment, same attorneys, same presumption of innocence. Laws should apply equally to all humans. As Reparations we should host a discussion about how to help without taking away dignity. I think micro financing might be an excellent way to acknowledge the past, honor the present, and build a better future. Reparations will not be fading from the American conversation.The House just passed a reparations bill. The door has been opened. The conversation is going to happen. Let’s all embrace the future and each other with open arms.