New website allows white people to offer reparations directly to People of Color
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4stargeneralbulldog
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 6:17 pm    Post subject: New website allows white people to offer reparations directly to People of Color

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One Louisiana native just wanted some books. A mother from Oklahoma simply wanted some help to buy a new laptop battery.

So they, along with dozens of other people of color, took to a new website to ask for help from those who have discriminated against them for decades: white people. Simultaneously, white people came to the site, called Reparations, to offer what they could and to start to answer the question: What can I do to help fix racial injustice?

It’s a big, complicated question. The site offers a concrete solution: a public forum where white people can offer their belongings or services and people of color can request help for a specific need.

But the site isn’t about atoning for slavery, says its creator, Seattle-based artist Natasha Marin.

“It’s about reparations for things that happened earlier today, for yesterday, for last Thursday,” she said. “This is for the present tense.”

Here’s the basic concept: White people have created a political and cultural system that discriminates against and excludes people of color every day. Therefore, white people have a responsibility to actively work to level the playing field for the people of color who are disadvantaged and threatened by racism and racial inequality.

So far, the number of offers have far outnumbered the number of requests. The offers and requests from people around the country are varied, from offers of lessons in Excel and tarot card readings to requests for help buying an engagement ring or finding a service dog for a veteran with PTSD. Marin doesn’t personally connect the givers and the receivers; she just provides the space for them to communicate.
Marin created the project after a demoralizing scroll through her Facebook feed a few weeks ago.

“I realized that the people I connected to were largely disheartened and powerless” after a series of killings of black men by police and racist rhetoric during the presidential race, she said. “We were being bombarded by death and fear.”

So she decided to do something about it. She created a Facebook event and invited her friends of color to post what they would need to “feel better, be happier, be more productive.” She asked her white friends to offer what they could. She had few expectations about where the project would go.

“If it had just been 50 people and some connections were made, generosity shown and gratitude shown, I would’ve been happy,” she said.

Instead, her small experiment continued to grow. Soon, thousands were participating in the website and Facebook group.

“I think people are asking themselves: How can I be just a little bit better?” Marin said. “It’s encouraging to see people remember that it feels good to be helpful.”

The project’s success has also come with an endless slew of racist and negative responses, however. Marin has received death threats.

But she has found a way to combat the hate in a productive way. The site asks people, called Troll Slayers, to take a pledge to donate a dollar to the site for every terrible message received, which are archived in a separate Facebook group. That money is then redistributed to those on the site asking for financial assistance.

“It’s an effective way to monetize hatred and turn it into something worthwhile,” she said.

The United States has struggled for decades over whether to pay reparations to its black citizens for centuries of slavery, violence, discrimination and exclusion. Some states have apologized for their roles in creating and maintaining racial injustice, but none have ever moved to compensate the victims of those actions. Even Bernie Sanders, one of the country’s most progressive politicians, said he would not support financial reparations, calling them “divisive.” On Monday, a coalition of organizations affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement called for a commission that would study the potential of reparations.

In the meantime, Marin will stick with her project, allowing people to pay and solicit reparations in an organic manner without the regulation of government or committee. Her project takes the word “reparation” back to its simplest meaning.

“It’s a word that means repair,” she said. “And I feel like many people feel broken.”


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/08/02/new-website-allows-white-people-to-offer-reparations-directly-to-people-of-color/#comments
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PLATNUM
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 6:46 pm    Post subject:

Wow.
Just... wow.
It's 2016, right?
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ringfinger
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 7:34 pm    Post subject:

Makes no sense.

While we never should forget the past, at some point, you have to forge ahead.
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vanexelent
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 7:48 pm    Post subject:

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Here’s the basic concept: White people have created a political and cultural system that discriminates against and excludes people of color every day. Therefore, white people have a responsibility to actively work to level the playing field for the people of color who are disadvantaged and threatened by racism and racial inequality.


I don't agree with this basic concept.
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dont_be_a_wuss
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 8:08 pm    Post subject:

The idea of the website seems a bit ridiculous, but after reading some of the requests they seem worthy. One woman was beat by the police and cannot go to work yet, she needs money to live on while she recovers.

[url=http://www.reparations.me/#!REQUEST-Life-Support/cjds/579596530cf2a8522f96f026]LINK[/url]

But the guy asking for a free mixing board, not so much.
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 8:25 pm    Post subject:

vanexelent wrote:
Quote:
Here’s the basic concept: White people have created a political and cultural system that discriminates against and excludes people of color every day. Therefore, white people have a responsibility to actively work to level the playing field for the people of color who are disadvantaged and threatened by racism and racial inequality.


I don't agree with this basic concept.


Seriously. Leveling the playing field by giving up handouts? Makes ZERO sense. I'm a "person of color" and have worked my azz off to get to a somewhat comfortable way of life... this is silly and feels like a slap in the face.
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 8:40 pm    Post subject:

Where's my damn 40 acres and my damn mule?
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 9:12 pm    Post subject:

jodeke wrote:
Where's my damn 40 acres and my damn mule?
DMR is always here for you!
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 9:15 pm    Post subject:

kikanga wrote:
jodeke wrote:
Where's my damn 40 acres and my damn mule?
DMR is always here for you!

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 9:45 pm    Post subject:

Generosity is a great thing, as long as it is done with the right intentions for the right reasons. People in need are people in need, whatever the reasons may be. If people are in a position to help someone out of the goodness of their own heart, so be it.

But...banking on someone's white guilt for an atrocity that they have as much complicity in as the person on the receiving end of the reparation is completely ludicrous.

Prove to me that your black ancestor was a slave and maybe I'll buy you that laptop battery you so need, after you prove that my white ancestor was a slave owner.

The blanket notion that white people have an obligation to "actively level the playing field" is complete and utter BS.
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lakersken80
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 9:50 pm    Post subject:

Not to mention all the people that committed the deed are buried 6 feet under. Why punish future generations? What future generations need to do is learn from the mistakes of their ancestors and tell the story of why it was wrong.
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 9:59 pm    Post subject:

dubaholic1 wrote:
Generosity is a great thing, as long as it is done with the right intentions for the right reasons. People in need are people in need, whatever the reasons may be. If people are in a position to help someone out of the goodness of their own heart, so be it.

But...banking on someone's white guilt for an atrocity that they have as much complicity in as the person on the receiving end of the reparation is completely ludicrous.

Prove to me that your black ancestor was a slave and maybe I'll buy you that laptop battery you so need, after you prove that my white ancestor was a slave owner.

The blanket notion that white people have an obligation to "actively level the playing field" is complete and utter BS.


If someone truly needs then I feel better about giving.

I agree with the bolded. I am as much responsible for bad ancestors as good. I don't get any acclaim for my grandfather storming normandy in 44, and nor should I. I didn't own any slaves, and I don't think I would depending on who was offered...
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 11:25 pm    Post subject:

I just requested Matt Damon's seat at the Oscars next year. I'm brown, hopefully there's an angel out there for me.
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 11:36 pm    Post subject:

I just signed up and asked for a new car. I'll have one of my black friends go pick it up.
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 5:57 am    Post subject:

I think descendant of slaves do have an argument for reparation. It's no difference than Jewish reparation by German government and Korean reparation by Japanese government.
The reparation discussion shouldn't be between black citizens and white citizens of USA, it should be between US government and descendants of slaves (they have to come up with methods to identify and to quantify)
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 6:39 am    Post subject:

lakersken80 wrote:
Not to mention all the people that committed the deed are buried 6 feet under. Why punish future generations? What future generations need to do is learn from the mistakes of their ancestors and tell the story of why it was wrong.


Yup, totally agree. What we can all do, is ensure the mistakes of our past are not repeated.

This would be like descendants of 9/11 victims asking for reparations from Muslims.
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 6:58 am    Post subject:

ringfinger wrote:
This would be like descendants of 9/11 victims asking for reparations from Muslims.


No, it wouldn't there's a difference between a terrorist organization committing an horrific act, versus a government sanctioning the enslavement and brutality of a race of people.

And even after being freed those same people had to suffer the effects of Jim Crow Laws, lynching, redlining and other deplorable acts that our government either sanctioned or turned a blind eye to.

So spare me the false analogies.
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angrypuppy
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 7:04 am    Post subject:

I'm part Native. I'm waiting for you deadbeats to send me rent checks.
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 7:09 am    Post subject:

Nordvader wrote:
ringfinger wrote:
This would be like descendants of 9/11 victims asking for reparations from Muslims.


No, it wouldn't there's a difference between a terrorist organization committing an horrific act, versus a government sanctioning the enslavement and brutality of a race of people.

And even after being freed those same people had to suffer the effects of Jim Crow Laws, lynching, redlining and other deplorable acts that our government either sanctioned or turned a blind eye to.

So spare me the false analogies.


What exactly is the difference between the two? Both terroristic organizations no?

So wait, is the ask for reparations from the government or the people that share the same skin color as the government?
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 7:28 am    Post subject:

angrypuppy wrote:
I'm part Native. I'm waiting for you deadbeats to send me rent checks.


I heard the Native American halocaust was worst than the Jewish halocaust of the 1940's.
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lakersken80
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 8:10 am    Post subject:

governator wrote:
I think descendant of slaves do have an argument for reparation. It's no difference than Jewish reparation by German government and Korean reparation by Japanese government.
The reparation discussion shouldn't be between black citizens and white citizens of USA, it should be between US government and descendants of slaves (they have to come up with methods to identify and to quantify)


Slavery goes back before there was even was a United States, and involved many different races as well all over the world. At what point do you draw the line? Its pointless punishing future generations for the sins of the past.
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 8:15 am    Post subject:

lakersken80 wrote:
governator wrote:
I think descendant of slaves do have an argument for reparation. It's no difference than Jewish reparation by German government and Korean reparation by Japanese government.
The reparation discussion shouldn't be between black citizens and white citizens of USA, it should be between US government and descendants of slaves (they have to come up with methods to identify and to quantify)


Slavery goes back before there was even was a United States, and involved many different races as well all over the world. At what point do you draw the line? Its pointless punishing future generations for the sins of the past.


That's between the US government and descendants of US slaves to decide. Slaves prior/outside of US are not in the discussion. It's not about punishing future generations or current generations who benefit from slaves' work, it's about reparation from works that was already performed
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 8:19 am    Post subject:

999 wrote:
angrypuppy wrote:
I'm part Native. I'm waiting for you deadbeats to send me rent checks.


I heard the Native American halocaust was worst than the Jewish halocaust of the 1940's.



I draw the line in that it wasn't institutionalized genocide by a government, though there are definite aparheid-like segregation policies that led to institutionalized concentration camps, known as reservations. Many deaths were attributable to the introduction of diseases such as smallpox, and a large number of those deaths were a form of murder by the white settlers, who would leave germ-infested blankets out for the Natives in an effort to eradicate them.
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 8:21 am    Post subject:

governator wrote:
lakersken80 wrote:
governator wrote:
I think descendant of slaves do have an argument for reparation. It's no difference than Jewish reparation by German government and Korean reparation by Japanese government.
The reparation discussion shouldn't be between black citizens and white citizens of USA, it should be between US government and descendants of slaves (they have to come up with methods to identify and to quantify)


Slavery goes back before there was even was a United States, and involved many different races as well all over the world. At what point do you draw the line? Its pointless punishing future generations for the sins of the past.


That's between the US government and descendants of US slaves to decide. Slaves prior/outside of US are not in the discussion. It's not about punishing future generations or current generations who benefit from slaves' work, it's about reparation from works that was already performed


The US government isn't some faceless organization. Its made up of the American taxpayers who will ultimately pay for the burden. Why should I pay for something that my relatives had no part in. If you are going to start punishing future generations for the past sins, you could go all the way since the dawn of man.
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 8:22 am    Post subject:

ringfinger wrote:
Nordvader wrote:
ringfinger wrote:
This would be like descendants of 9/11 victims asking for reparations from Muslims.


No, it wouldn't there's a difference between a terrorist organization committing an horrific act, versus a government sanctioning the enslavement and brutality of a race of people.

And even after being freed those same people had to suffer the effects of Jim Crow Laws, lynching, redlining and other deplorable acts that our government either sanctioned or turned a blind eye to.

So spare me the false analogies.


What exactly is the difference between the two? Both terroristic organizations no?

So wait, is the ask for reparations from the government or the people that share the same skin color as the government?


If, I honestly have to explain to you why a government shouldn't be sanctioning terroristic actions, I might have to question your opinions on many other things involving politics and minority relations.
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