The way I understand it is that even if we omit any ancestral blame for what happened, the Native Americans are still dealing with the impact while European descendants benefit from it. It's kind of like if I went to school with a very bright kid that was horribly abused and kicked out into the streets, so they performed poorly and dropped out, allowing me to get into the best college possible and have a great career. Why should I have any compassion for this kid if I didn't abuse them myself? Why would I help them get housed and into college? Why would I even acknowledge that they were abused and forced out of their home? I'm one that earned it by working hard to get into college and graduate.

This omits the possibility that this kid might have outperformed me and taken the college spot, leaving me to be in a worse off situation.

[–] nautilus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 year ago

Not 1000% on board with your analogy, but I understand and fully agree lol.

I just wish most people had the empathy and mental capacity to understand the intricacies of this stuff. It’s a hell of a lot easier to just say “uH wOw I ain’t payin reparations for no dang indians” than it is to actually think for a minute about and acknowledge the real history of where you live

[–] Blapoo@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How far back in time are we going to enact justice? My 36x Great uncle Olaf never got his comeuppance (/s a little)

[–] TigrisMorte@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago

As far back as required to make those involved feel as if they were compensated. If you feel that 36x Great uncle Olaf's loss affects your Family Today, then you should have your day in Court to make the case. However, as most likely 36x Great uncle Olaf was in fact not involved in anything in a currently oppressed People's past, it'll be a hard case to make.