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Don’t compare slavery with the holocaust for reparations!

Michael A. Dingwall (michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com)

From time to time I hear people talk about the need for us black people to be compensated for the so-called sins of slavery. Many of these people claim that we deserve to be paid reparations, as other persecuted people were. In particular, some of these reparations activists like to compare what happened to our ancestors many years ago to what happened to the Jews during World War two. If the Jews deserve compensation, why not us blacks, they ask. However, the two events - slavery and the holocaust - are not the same.

First of all, and perhaps most importantly, there was no organized Jewish effort anywhere to help Hitler with his “final solution to the Jewish problem”. Sure, there may have been some Jews who helped, but there was no Jewish group (let alone government) that assisted Nazi Germany to exterminate over six million Jews. As a people, the Jews were collectively against the Holocaust.

Adolf Hitler - "First of all, and perhaps most importantly, there was no organized Jewish effort anywhere to help Hitler ...Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of us black people...it is a well-documented fact that many black governments had official and binding treaties with Great Britain and other European powers that obligated these black nations to export slaves"

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of us black people. History is sure and it cannot be changed - it is a well-documented fact that many black governments had official and binding treaties with Great Britain and other European powers that obligated these black nations to export slaves. These black governments, during the three hundred or so years of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, mostly signed these treaties willingly. Indeed, the reason why it was called a “trade” was just that - a legal agreement agreed to by both the Europeans and the black peoples of Africa.

Secondly, when the Jews were being sent to extermination facilities all over Europe, they were not paid anything. On the contrary, they were stripped of all their possessions. The Nazis took anything of value from them. Also, to add further insult to injury, they were stripped naked before being gassed. Much of the valuable art, for instance, that the Nazis stole were from Jews.

For us black people, the situation was not the same. When the Europeans came to Africa, our black ancestors were paid for the slaves they were selling. According to one slave ship’s manifest - our ancestors were paid “used kitchen utensils” like old knifes and forks, “cats to catch mice” and other such trinkets. Sure, I agree that it was not much, but our ancestors were clearly satisfied. Some of our ancestors were also paid guns and other European manufactured arms. We were busy selling out our own - we were being paid.

Thirdly and finally, the holocaust was a terrible event in history. This is true not so much because we today think so - not at all. This is true because the Jews who were being exterminated during the holocaust hated it. Also, the German people, for the most part, were totally unaware of the severity of the Nazis’ persecution of the Jews. Details of the death camps, including the millions who died in them, only came to the attention of the average German after the war. Upon knowing the full details of what happened, most Germans were ashamed. It is primarily for this reason why the Holocaust is so sickening - both the Jews and the Germans at that time despised what occurred.

Again and unfortunately, the same cannot be said of us black people. Many of us today may have a problem with slavery and the slave trade. However, the truth is, this is neither here nor there. The simple fact of the matter is that when the Europeans were picking up our ancestors from Africa, they had a clean conscience. They saw nothing wrong with what they were doing. Also, when the Africans were selling out their own - they did not take long showers after they concluded each sale. Our ancestors saw nothing wrong with selling out their own. Slavery and the slave trade were legal institutions that were accepted by both the European and the African. Therefore, who are we today to judge them?

Those amongst us today who keep saying that there is a good legal case for reparations because the Jews were compensated aren’t thinking clearly. As a people, we are very good at denying our true past - preferring to view things from one side only. We black people are not due any reparations. What the Jews went through was terrible. What we black people went through was a business deal. Slavery and the Jewish Holocaust are not the same.

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