When it comes to the absurdity of American taxpayers giving “reparations” to black descendants of slaves, it’s hard to limit the number of objections. Apart from the fact that American slavery, though horrific, was legal; that it ended 157 years ago; that the government did not own slaves, the private sector did; that most Southerners did not own slaves; that nearly all slave owners were Democrats — so why should non-Democrats pay?; that hundreds of thousands of white Northerners lost their lives and suffered serious injuries fighting in the Civil War that ended slavery; and that today, as conservative writer Michael Medved puts it, only about 5% of whites bear “a generational guilt” to slavery — there’s the role Africa itself played.
Take the 2022 movie “The Woman King,” starring Viola Davis, about African female warriors. It portrays white slavers as villains and the female warriors as antislavery avengers, and the film claims it is “Inspired by true events.” IMDB describes its plot:
“A historical epic inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.”
Inspired by true events? Really?
There was, in fact, a band of warrior women in Africa called the Dahomey. True, they were fierce, feared and bloodthirsty fighters. But they used that ferocity to kill and conquer other Africans for sale to slave traders. The trans-Atlantic African and the Arab African slave trade could not have occurred without the complicity of African chiefs, who sold conquered Africans to European and Arab slavers.
In the film, white slavers are the enemy when, in reality, they were business partners with the “women kings.”
Critic Robert Daniels, who mostly praised the film, said: “You might wonder how (director Gina) Prince-Bythewood can shape a tale centering the Agojie warriors — an all-woman group of soldiers known as the Amazons, sworn to honor and sisterhood — hailing from the West African kingdom of Dahomey, when one considers their hand in perpetuating the transatlantic slave trade.”
A review on Last Movie Outpost, called “‘The Woman King’ Historical Embarrassment,” puts it this way: “The movie has been set-up as a having a historical basis, telling the story of the real-life Kingdom of Dahomey in the 18th and 19th centuries. … In reality, Dahomey was a notorious slave kingdom, and not the Pan-African freedom fighters as the movie presents them. They enslaved and murdered hundreds of thousands from other tribes and sold them into the slave trade.
“Dahomey was renowned as the ‘Black Sparta,’ and was a fiercely militaristic society bent on domination and conquest. Their soldiers struck fear into other tribes all along what is still known as the Slave Coast, as they captured tribespeople from enemy tribes and sold them as slaves.
“The Dahomey women fought to protect their own slave trade. Even worse for those who struggle with reality, the Amazons were formed from among the king’s ‘third class’ wives. These were those considered insufficiently beautiful to share his bed and who had not borne children. Awkward!”
About the film, “History vs. Hollywood” writes: “In real life, the Dahomey are much more the villains than the heroes. … They conquered neighboring African states and took their citizens as slaves, selling many in the Atlantic slave trade in exchange for items like rifles, tobacco, and alcohol. Many of the slaves they sold ended up in America. … The business of slavery is what brought Dahomey most of its wealth. … There are accounts of Dahomey warriors conducting slave raids on villages where they cut the heads off of the elderly and rip the bottom jaw bones off others. During the raids, they’d burn the villages to the ground. Those who they let live, including the children, were taken captive, and sold as slaves.”
So, will Africa reimburse American reparations-paying taxpayers?
Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an “Elderado,” visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry on Twitter @larryelder. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
Paying reparations for slavery is absurd on it’s face.
Consider the following scenario:
You’re at home, watching TV, listening to tunes, doing dishes, what have you. There’s a knock at the door, you answer, and standing before you is a member of law enforcement. You ask, “Officer, what brings you to my door?” Their reply, “You’re under arrest for murder.”
At this point you’re bewildered, confused, and maybe shaking in your shoes. You ask, “Murder? What murder?” and are told it was a crime which happened 160 years ago. They tell you the original perp was never apprehended, but searching thru the family line, they discover you have a connection to said perp.
What would the average person’s reaction be? One of anger, indignation, astonishment, etc. Your response would be something along the lines of, “How can you do this? I wasn’t there. I didn’t even know either the victim or perp – hell, I wasn’t even born or even thought of yet.”
Asking White Americans to pay reparations is no different than the scenario I just laid out. Agreed, the sins of our past were grievous, to be sure, but punishing people for things which they had no part in is never the way to solve problems.
The past can’t be changed. All it can do is serve as a guide and teacher so those sins never get repeated. Given that, the best we can do as human beings is to be better people towards one another and learn to peaceably co-exist.
ITS never been about ‘reparations’, but PUNISHING WHITES for what everyone ELSE has done.
ltuser on December 22, 2022
IT’S never been about ‘reparations’ but PUNISHING WHITES for what everyone ELSE has done.”
“…News about Democrats Ticked Off Because Minorities Voting Rep…
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“…Black voter turnout was down in 2022. Democratic operatives are panicking about what it could mean for 2024…”
David Horowitz Once Wrote This, ” 1o Reasons Reparations are a bad Idea and Racist Too,” everybody should read this.
The democrat party is supposed to be for the minorities, immigrants, the oppressed, but it’s record and who were democrats doesn’t ring true, for example, Robert Byrd was a democrat, he said,” I am a former Kleagle
(Recruiter) of the KU KLUX IN Raleigh County …” It is necessary that the order be promoted immediately and in every State in the union.” Robert Byrd, 1946, Democrat Senate from West Virginia, 1959-2010, Senate Majority Leader, 1977-88 and 1987-88, Senate President Pro Tempore, 1989-95, 2001-03, 2007-2010…”
” President Truman’s Civil-Rights program : Is a Farce and a sham–and effort to set up a police state in the guise of Liberty,…” Rep. Lyndon B. Johnson (., D. Texas),1948, U, S, SENATOR,1949-61, Senate Majority Leader 1955-61, President,1963-69.
Author unknown
i do not owe them a damm thing!