June 20, 2019

"A congressional hearing erupted when Quillette writer Coleman Hughes trashed a bill to study slavery reparations as a 'moral and political mistake,' forcing the chair of the hearing to tell the audience to 'chill' several times."

Mediaite reports (with video).
The audience at the hearing booed Hughes after he said, “Black people don’t need another apology. We need safer neighborhoods and better schools. We need a less punitive criminal justice system. We need affordable health care. And none of these things can be achieved through reparations for slavery.”

“Nearly everyone close to me told me not to testify today,” Hughes noted, adding, “They told me that even though I have only ever voted for Democrats, I would be perceived as Republican and therefore hated by half the country. Others told me that by distancing myself from Republicans, I would end up angering the other half of the country. And the sad truth is that they were both right. That’s how suspicious we have become. Of one another. That’s how divided we are [a]s a nation[."]......

As the audience booed Hughes, subcommittee Chairman Steve Cohen banged the gavel and said “Chill, chill, chill, chill!” As the chamber quieted, Cohen added: “He was presumptive, but he still has a right to speak.”
He was presumptive?! What does that mean? Uppity?

119 comments:

Phil 314 said...

Mr. Hughes doesn’t know his place.

mezzrow said...

That would be my interpretation.

It is instructive how the behavior of those who identify as progressive mimics that of those who identified as states rights democrats when we were both toddlers, Althouse.

Big Mike said...

Uppity? Damn right! Boy needs to know his place.

rehajm said...

A congressional hearing erupted...

I went to a fight the other night and a hockey game broke out.

MikeR said...

Wow.
Saw him with Glenn Loury on bloggingheads. Impressive guy.

etbass said...

We can expect many Republicans to join this idiotic chorus.

traditionalguy said...

The black middle class has woke up. They support a President that actually supports them. They are rejecting slave bonus $ from the Dem slave owners. They want to be Americans. Winning again.

M Jordan said...

This Cohen guy that suddenly has popped up on our screens is real dick. He gives Richard Blumenthal some competition.

readering said...

I don't think presumptuous (what I think he meant) is a synonym for uppity, but it still seems insulting and wrong word

Automatic_Wing said...

Chill, lol. Whatever happened to order! Is that considered racist now?

CJinPA said...

Interesting that Mediaite figured it didn't have to identify Hughes as black in the text because the embedded video made it clear. I think that is a new development. Hope every reader's Flashplayer or whatever is working.

we would turn the relationship between black Americans and white Americans from a coalition into a transaction.”

That is, to me, exactly what the Democratic Party has become. That is the only thing America could be under Identity Politics. Like a loveless marriage, it wouldn't be a union, but rather an "arrangement."

TreeJoe said...

I've only read the transcript but he was eloquent and his points were carefully made and delivered. I read it and literally said to myself, "I wish I could buy this guy a beer and talk with him."

There is no such thing as just reparations. And the same justifications used today could be used again in 10-20 years if reparations were granted because it would not solve the original sin nor would it sufficiently mitigate the wealth disparity between ethnicity.

Further, if I visit the Lincoln memorial I could say to myself: At the time of the Civil War the North - spending >300,000 lives to end the sin of forced slavery - believed the blood spilled was the payment due for this sin. I can't help the slavery 160 years ago, nor the 100 years of permitted/encouraged racial policy and law that followed after. But I can point out that my ancestors mortgaged their future and bled heartily in 1000s of places to the almost destruction of a nation in order to end slavery in our country. Does that sacrifice hold any weight? Does it bear mentioning?

Lastly, does it bear mentioning the large number of black slave traders who helped enslave millions? Can we be sure that no reparations would go towards anyone in their lineage? Is that a worthy point of the study - not that african americans/black folks here would get reparations, but only those who did not profit from the slave trade and in fact had a certain minimum amount of slaves in their lineage. Is that what we are doing here?

Until I see these things openly discussed, reparations are not serious. They are political theater.

Ann Althouse said...

"Chill, lol. Whatever happened to order! Is that considered racist now?"

Did he say "chill" because he was *talking* to black people? I'd say *that's* racist. He goes to the appropriation of black slang to address black people? Surprised he doesn't get in more trouble for that. Clearly, he thinks he has Democratic Party privilege. Don't know why that holds up.

MayBee said...

Apparently he is quite wrong about what black people need. And I have had a misperception about what has been hurting poor black communities. Good schools, a fair criminal justice system.... not what people need. Good to know.

MayBee said...

Is "chill" black slang? I'm pretty sure it's just slang.

Swede said...

"Chill Chill Chill" says Steve Cohen.

Then he broke out a bucket of KFC and started eating it.

Make of it what you will.

Fernandinande said...

“He was presumptive, but he still has a right to speak.”

That was mighty white of him.

We need safer neighborhoods and better schools. We need a less punitive criminal justice system.

We want to reduce the number of criminals by punishing them less. Good luck.

Leland said...

Know your place dude. It is to pull that lever for a Democrat and take the penance they give you. Besides, that gave you Universal Health Insurance that costs more and convinced police to leave your neighborhoods such that nobody got arrested. You should be thanking Democrats for what they gave you when they allow you to speak.

Fernandinande said...

It's nice that Quillette is getting some exposure.

"My Testimony on Reparations"
Coleman Hughes

Temujin said...

I was wondering about 'Chill' as well. Imagine if a Republican had shouted that.

Anyway, Coleman Hughes was not presumptive. He was brilliant. People on the Left just cannot allow a black person to think for themselves if thinking for themselves does not follow Leftist dogma. Other than that, they're all for a black person.

Gahrie said...

Clearly, he thinks he has Democratic Party privilege. Don't know why that holds up.

Because the entire Democratic-MSM political complex depends upon it.

Fernandinande said...

His inadvertent humor reminds me of Sailer: "What your country needs is more people who look like me!"

"What we should do is pay reparations to black Americans who actually grew up under Jim Crow and were directly harmed by second-class citizenship—people like my Grandparents."

Kevin said...

We need safer neighborhoods and better schools. We need a less punitive criminal justice system.

Dems: Oh we’ve never been able to give that to you. How about a check?

To a foundation?

Which will be spent on your behalf?

Wait, where are you going?

rhhardin said...

It doesn't mean uppity. It means opting out of the narrative.

rhhardin said...

You talk differently to black people because they're taught to be landmines and tripwires as a way to work in society.

Michael K said...

Blogger readering said...
I don't think presumptuous (what I think he meant) is a synonym for uppity, but it still seems insulting and wrong word


Of course. How about "Above your place, boy."

Automatic_Wing said...

Did he say "chill" because he was *talking* to black people? I'd say *that's* racist.

I've never thought of "chill" as being a particularly black expression. Now, if he had started speaking jive, that would've been, uh, problematic.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Inga’s born-guilty grandsons are gonna get exactly what she and Chief Elizabeth thinks they deserve: to pay reparations forever.

Dude1394 said...

Boy that was a truth bomb, that the kkk democrats did not want to hear.

Sebastian said...

"They told me that even though I have only ever voted for Democrats, I would be perceived as Republican and therefore hated by half the country. Others told me that by distancing myself from Republicans, I would end up angering the other half of the country."

I call BS on anyone telling him that, but --

They told you wrong. Only one half of the country is into political hate. Has any righty be angered by a black person "distancing" himself from Republicans?

But of course the false equivalence made the point: watch out, boy. Don't wander off the reparations plantation.

Fernandinande said...

I think the naughty white man was talking about a lunch break "Chili! Chili! Chili!"

Did he say "chill" because he was *talking* to black people? I'd say *that's* racist.

White people can't talk to black people the way black people talk to each other?

And you really think your dopey idea isn't racist? Thanks for another LOL!

gilbar said...

He was presumptive?! What does that mean? Uppity?
I think it means far worse that Uppity; it means that boy's left the plantation!

n.n said...

affordable health care

Not insurance. Good point.

Hughes offers a common sense perspective held by most Americans and solutions suitable to promote the general Welfare of all people... Persons, and perhaps people, too.

Dude1394 said...

Clearly, he thinks he has Democratic Party privilege. Don't know why that holds up."

Seriously, you do not know why that holds up? Come on..

n.n said...

They told you wrong. Only one half of the country is into political hate.

Yes. The phobias are projected. The libertarians on the right, and the conservatives in the center, are not into racism, sexism, genderism, and other emanations of diversity.

gilbar said...

Fern said.... I think the naughty white man was talking about a lunch break "Chili!"

Serious Question:
Is Chili a cultural appropriation? If you're not from San Antonio, are you allowed to make Chili?
What if you put beans into it? I mean, then it's not really Chili; so ...?


J. Farmer said...

I’ve been following Hughes’ work since reading him at Heterodox Academy. I was hoping he’d be a fresh young black conservative but instead is mostly a centrist in the mold of John McWhorter. Nonetheless, his work is a welcome antidote to SJW racial hysteria. And is only 22, though maybe 23 by now. Incidentally, he’s also quite a talented trombonist

dreams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dreams said...

"He was presumptive?!"

It seems to me that he was saying that the witness was presuming the reaction he would get, presumptive and correct.

robinintn said...

A Twitter blue-check lady used her democrat privilege to call him “Coonman Hughes”, and when she received pushback she quadrupled down on he’s a “coon”. She also advised that anyone who objected could “lick my cunt”.

JAORE said...

"Don't know why that holds up."

Yeah. Especially when it was on endless loop on MSNBC with panels of 12 or more ALL calling him out as a racist.

Go figure.

n.n said...

He is right about reparations to slaves and their descendants. That would create an imbalance with the sacrifice of blood and treasure of the human rights leaders who ended involuntary exploitation, redistributive change, and confronted diversity. He is only partially right about recent conditions, and his testimony demonstrates clear color bias, which excludes People, Posterity, and relations harmed by an in progress diversity racket. As well as a vested anti-nativist sentiment that has normalized immigration reform around the world, collateral damage at both ends of the bridge and throughout, and compensation for the dysfunction reaped by social progress.

n.n said...

when she received pushback she quadrupled down on he’s a “coon"

The social justice warriors lynched "coons" in pre-progressive South Africa. Perhaps that's the inspiration of her aspiration.

todd galle said...

I'm more concerned with the central issue: reparations. Who pays, who gets, and why? My dirt farming Scottish orphaned great grandfather came here with 4 siblings in the 1880s, being dealt off to distant relatives in the US and Canada. Am I culpable, and if so, under what possible metric? Why not just bill the Democratic Party directly, since they were the slaveholders and secessionists instituting Civil War (which they seem determined to repeat). Tap into the Clinton Foundation, Tides Foundation, etc.

Seeing Red said...

Did he say "chill" because he was *talking* to black people?

Chill is a black word? Since when?

It’s been part of American vernacular for awhile now. I’ve used it.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

We need to be allowed to shoplift whenever we want.

Anonymous said...

Did Elizabeth Warren call Hughes a “coon” yesterday? Did Inga and Freder lest they not be able to think of themselves as white savior allies.

Bruce Hayden said...

“Black people don’t need another apology. We need safer neighborhoods and better schools. We need a less punitive criminal justice system. We need affordable health care. And none of these things can be achieved through reparations for slavery.”

They aren’t going to get another apology, because it would have to come from the Democrats, who were the slave owners, fought the Civil War to maintain their slavery of Blacks, instituted Jim Crow, used the Klan to keep Blacks in line, opposed the Civil Rights laws, and over the last half century destroyed the Black family with their War On Poverty, and their corresponding welfare state. Instead of apologizing, the Democrats are busy trying to convince everyone that the Republicans were the ones doing all that, and that they were the saviors of Blacks. Apparently, there are a number of young people who believe that Lincoln was a Democrat.

Reverse Democrats’ welfare system, and most of those problems faced by Blacks go away. Ain’t gonna happen. Dems need Blacks on the plantation to get their votes as their saviors.

Here is the thing to keep in mind here. Reparations are a naked bribe by the Democrats to Blacks in this country for their votes. Vote for us and we will cut you a large check. Open bribery, and nothing more. Votes for money.

J. Farmer said...

@Bruce Hayden:

Vote for us and we will cut you a large check. Open bribery, and nothing more. Votes for money.

That's pretty much all politics. The two most popular things the federal government does by a long mile are Social Security and Medicare.

Mike Sylwester said...

Should a descendant of a field slave get a bigger reparations check than a descendant of a kitchen slave?

Caligula said...

If "reparations" is a one-time payment, it obviously fails, as 'most everyone in business knows that a recurring revenue stream is almost always better than a one-time payment (why do you think everyone demands "auto-renew"?). And it's not as if anyone would dare ask those who might receive these reparations to sign a waiver saying that by accepting the payment one agrees that the account has been settled.

So, let's talk of reparations as a recurring revenue stream. To be adjusted for inflation (of course), and with a provision that it may be increased but never, ever, decreased. With (again, of course) inheritance rights.

Do I hear an opening bid? Buttigied? Biden? Gillibrand? Warren? Let the bidding begin!

buwaya said...

Coleman Hughes
A brave man. Or possibly an invulnerable man.
I tend to think brave, as he is very young and in academia.
Unless there is some great fortune behind him, that we dont know about.
He does have the armor of his race, but that is of only limited value.

Francisco D said...

Reparations are part if a deliberate fantasy (like electing Obama) that just one more federal action/program will forever heal America from the legacy of slavery.

When that doesn't work (like electing Obama) I wonder what the next scam will be.

Of course, this claptrap is all about Democrats getting the Black vote in 2020.

Michael K said...

Of course, this claptrap is all about Democrats getting the Black vote in 2020.

Yes, and they are worried.

gerry said...

She also advised that anyone who objected could “lick my cunt”.

With her, only with proper lingual protection.

J. Farmer said...

And of course reparations have been tried for more than half a century in the form of welfare, food stamps, and housing, all of which are disproportionately utilized by blacks. The results have been...less than impressive. The SAT, on the other hand, has been a huge boon to blacks.

Drago said...

Farmer: "The two most popular things the federal government does by a long mile are Social Security and Medicare."

With obvious and important caveat that individuals pay into both of those systems over their working lifetimes with the caveated caveat being you are not technically paid back from your own taxes and many people receive back far more than they ever paid in via taxes even with interest calculated.

Bruce Hayden said...

“The two most popular things the federal government does by a long mile are Social Security and Medicare.”

I disagree that they are currently bribes. I worked for 46 years, contributing to both programs throughout most of a half century, month in, and month out, based on a promise that if I got old enough, I would get that money back. And if I lived a bit longer, I would get some of the money back from some of those less fortunate.

Yes, that isn’t precisely how the programs work, with general revenue monies augmenting what the younger generations contribute for their own futures. But, for the most part, we have a lot of our own blood and sweat invested in our Social Security and Medicare benefits, so they don’t feel like a handout to most recipients, but rather a well earned benefit.

rightguy said...

Coleman Hughes would make an eloquent and thoughtful neo-con. And he just got mugged.

Bay Area Guy said...

Hughes was right on the money. Well done, Sir. Please leave the Democrat Party - you are way too intelligent.

Cohen is that idiot who was eating a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken when AG Barr refused to prostrate himself before the House Judiciary Committee.

I think the Democrat Party should pay reparations. They were Slaveholders then; they are morons now.

Oso Negro said...

I think reparations would be a fantastic idea for America! We just need the right system.

Some preliminaries:

1) a national genetic registry to determine percentage of ancestry, mandatory participation for all.
2) a national genealogical database.

Then we need a national formula for determining guilt and victimhood. I suggest establishing the Department of Guilt and Victimhood as a Cabinet level department.

We can have legions of bureaucrats administer the national formula:

Credits awarded for percentage of genetic material determined to be west African.
Demerits for proof of slave-holding ancestry
Deductions for relatives who served the union in the Civil War
Deductions for ancestors who arrived after Juneteenth 1865.
Demerits for genetic ancestry of slave-holding Africans or Arabs.

and so on.

According to scientific socialism, administered by the right people, a nominally black person could owe a bundle for slave-holding ancestors, depending on genetics and genealogy.

J. Farmer said...

@Drago and @Bruce Hayden:

I take both your points. I was making a sort of "bribe the people with their own money" kind of case. Plus, there is a welfare aspect to Social Security in the form of SSI, and you only have to pay Medicare taxes for 10 years to qualify for premium-free Medicare Part A. But again, I take your points.

CJinPA said...

It's nice that Quillette is getting some exposure.

It's a great read. It was odd that Mediaite identified Hughes as a "Quillette writer" and not a black writer, given the topic.

PM said...

White: Calm down
Black: Chill

White: Cool
Black: Dope

White: Looting
Black: Reparations

lgv said...

It will take years, but at some point every black person in America will get a check, even if they just got their citizenship papers 5 years removed from Nigeria.

First, it's is just about forming a committee. This will happen. Then the committee will recommend Act 1.0, which gives reparations to blood relatives of actual slaves. Then Congress will spend a year in committee creating the bill. It will have all sorts of modifications, but will broaden the categories of those who will receive reparations. The bill will go to the Senate, where the Senate will come up with their own convoluted version. It will then go to committee. It will take another year of haggling, but it will pass in a simple form of giving every black person a check, because any other method will be too complicated and unfair to some group of victims of racism.

The checks will be big because an $100 check is an insult. So, the government borrows $450 billion and writes everyone a check. This is OK with Democrats because the Krugman/Obama theory of economics believes that this will stimulate the economy beyond a 1:1 ratio.

I will be retired in foreign expat community with my uninflated dollars by then.

Narr said...

Rep. Cohen, alas, is from my district; he wanted into the Dem's Black Caucus IIRC, describing himself as "the Jewish man who votes like a Black woman would." (An uncle of his was my childhood allergist.)

He was in the news some years back for a physical tussle he got into with an Armenian activist re Turkey and that genocide.

I think McWhorter has one of the best arguments against Reparations: white people will just say, "You got your money, now STFU!"

Narr
He's right

Sebastian said...

"I think McWhorter has one of the best arguments against Reparations: white people will just say, "You got your money, now STFU!""

Not a very good argument: progs won't STFU. As long as race-baiting pays, they will bait. Never enough, is the real prog motto.

So the better argument is: since y'all will never STFU, and will never stick to a deal, and will never find it enough, it's a non-starter. Sorry.

Narr said...

I wasn't endorsing Reparations (or not), just making a point.

Since the names and race thread is expiring, let me throw this true story in. A few years ago here a group of youthful morons decided to assault, beat, and rob a delivery driver. The two alleged perps were

Dontavious [redacted] and

Dontevious [redacted]

Narr
Where were Dontivious, Dontovious, and Dontuvious?

Gospace said...

As I've said many times:

I am perfectly willing to pay reparations to any slave I have ever owned.

The current count for that is zero.

MacMacConnell said...

My family sold their slaves in Ireland to pay for ocean passage in around 1890.

Not Sure said...

Reparations for slavery are chump change compared to what could come next. Once we accept that there's a genetic basis for paying or receiving, we can go after the real root causes of inequality. It's obvious that ugly people will be owed reparations from good-looking people. First, it's well known that attractive people earn higher incomes than ugly people do. Second, ugly people wouldn't be so ugly if the ancestors of good-looking people hadn't insisted on fucking each other instead of the ancestors of ugly people.

Plus, there are lots of fugly people's votes to be had.

MacMacConnell said...

I'm fucked, I'm extremely good looking. I might add sexy. But I can't afford ugly reparations, I need a new set of tires.

gilbar said...

three of my eight great-great-fathers served in different regiments of Iowa Volunteer Infantry
the other five were still in Germany or Scotland. Since the war, all my people have lived in Iowa (except for 6 years my great-grandfather lived in Minnesota, before seeing the error of his ways).

Tell me AGAIN, how slavery is MY fault? Kicking Blackhawk's ass; and evicting his people; I suppose maybe you could lay that on us. . . But Iowa settled with the Fox a LONG time ago
https://meskwaki.org/about-us/history/

Rick said...

But, for the most part, we have a lot of our own blood and sweat invested in our Social Security and Medicare benefits, so they don’t feel like a handout to most recipients, but rather a well earned benefit.

People as a group haven't paid in nearly enough to support the benefits they receive. This simple fact is proven by noting the system is going broke. It's the difference, benefit > contribution, which is a bribe. I can't pay $50 into a pyramid scheme returning thousands and justify myself by noting I "paid in" and therefore the relationship between benefits and contributions is irrelevant.

Michael K said...

therefore the relationship between benefits and contributions is irrelevant.

It was begun when, like Bismarck's Germany, life expectancy was 65 or less. In the 1990s, when Boomers were in peak productive years, Congress stole the SS surplus to "balance the budget." What they left was IOUs.

Entitlements have been candy for politicians to hand out since 1965.

I was paying into SS and Medicare until last year, way past age 65. It was called "self employment tax" and was a lot.

One problem was that lots of beneficiaries were added over the years who did NOT contribute.

After 1965 it was a Ponzi scheme but it wasn't always.

Rick said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rick said...

I am perfectly willing to pay reparations to any slave I have ever owned.

There is a similar point on the home loan redlining effect which is TNC's effort to spread blame to everyone thus justifying reparations. The people harmed by predatory loan practices as a result of redlining did sue those responsible. The results were mixed, mostly negative but with a number of settlements and changes made to state laws.

So they had a chance to seek redress from the people who actually harmed them. So what justifies their recovering from me rather than the person who benefited?

Yancey Ward said...

Hughes is smart enough to understand that reparations are going to destroy the Democratic Party if they ever give in to the demand. People like Coates are dangerously stupid.

J. Farmer said...

The only reparations I would support is to give blacks a piece of American territory in which to build a black ethno-state.

Drago said...

Farmer: "I was making a sort of "bribe the people with their own money" kind of case."

You are not wrong.

Rosalyn C. said...

Chairman Steve Cohen says everyone should be listened to with respect and then insults the validity and character of the witness. I think the "presumptive" comment referred to Hughes's age. He's only 23 so how can he presume he might know anything? (IOW The boy is uppity.) -- Ageism with a touch of racism.

bagoh20 said...

The argument that Democrats alone should pay reparations is a better one than all Americans. No Republicans ever owned slaves. None. Nearly all the depravations suffered by Blacks have been orchestrated and exacerbated by Democrats. AOC can tell you how the word "Democrat" has a long history that we should understand, and that it means what it always meant.

Blacks should be ashamed of voting for Democrats. I'll be generous and assume they just don't know any better.

Gospace said...

J. Farmer said...
The only reparations I would support is to give blacks a piece of American territory in which to build a black ethno-state.


That's similar to how Liberia got it's start as a country. Look at how well that turned out.

Joanne Jacobs said...

Reparations talk is a great way to ensure that Democrat X will lose to Trump. Reparations are an empty promise that won't boost black turnout, but will persuade white centrists to vote for Trump or stay home. People don't like being accused of being racists. The Oberlin jury verdict -- in swing state Ohio -- should be a warning to the left. Joe Biden is trying to be the candidate who doesn't think you're a racist, but is he smart enough to pull it off?

Transgender activism also is hurting Democratic chances. Most people aren't "woke."

Rick said...

Joe Biden is trying to be the candidate who doesn't think you're a racist

"They want to put ya'll back in chains."

So not trying too hard.

Scott M said...

I have to say, I'm enjoying Quillette's website and visit it daily. The comments section is quite good as well.

Narr said...

As politics, I'm with JJ@146. If Reparations are front-and-centered by the Dims, that only helps Trump. And I like someone's suggestion that Reparations should start with the Dims.

Narr
Liberia or K&P's "Negrotown"? Discuss

hstad said...

Drago said "...and many people receive back far more than they ever paid in via taxes even with interest calculated...."6/20/19, 10:00 AM. And let me also add, ".....many people receive back far [less] than they ever paid in via taxes...."

Slavery was the most universal of all human institutions. So if you had reparations for slavery, virtually everybody on the planet would have had an ancestor somewhere who was enslaved. "More whites were brought as slaves to North Africa than blacks brought as slaves to the United States or to the 13 colonies from which it was formed. White slaves were still being bought and sold in the Ottoman Empire (around 1915), decades after blacks were freed in the United States."- Thomas Sowell.

The demand for reparations may seem like an exercise in futility. However, seen as a source of a lasting unmet grievance, it is a stroke of genius to keep blacks separated from other Americans and an aggrieved constituency to support black "leaders" in politics, organizations and movements.

Scott M said...

Did he say "chill" because he was *talking* to black people? I'd say *that's* racist. He goes to the appropriation of black slang to address black people? Surprised he doesn't get in more trouble for that. Clearly, he thinks he has Democratic Party privilege. Don't know why that holds up.

Probably not a good avenue of outrage. "Chill" is far too widespread in the vernacular for that. Not that that fact would stop those that truck in outrage...

narciso said...

since polls are the arbiter of everything right?


https://www.foxnews.com/politics/as-democrats-debate-reparations-for-slavery-americans-are-
not-convinced

Drago said...

Uh oh. A conservative black guy...

....that's like waving a red cape in front of LLR Chuck....

Francisco D said...

Hughes is smart enough to understand that reparations are going to destroy the Democratic Party if they ever give in to the demand. People like Coates are dangerously stupid.

Of course, reparations will never happen.

Talking about it is something to get politically attuned Blacks excited about as we venture into the 2020 elections.

It's also one of the few cards left in the White Guilt deck of cards.

bagoh20 said...



Huh? Wait, what? Whoa, man, how long was I out? I was having an awesome dream about President Beto. Just me, him, and Trudeau in a giant Chuck-E-Cheese ball pit, and the balls were huge!

The Crack Emcee said...

That kid said he knows we're talking about debts, but today's blacks aren't entitled to collect, when that was exactly the mandate handed down from our ancestors - he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Ta-Nehisi Coates' comments got to the nub of the problem, including an invitation to talk to the people directly affected, not someone half my age, defiantly standing on their shoulders.

gg6 said...

"Uppity." Yes, I do think that's a clever and funny resonance - but I don't take it at all seriously. It's even unfair - good lord, most of the man's district are Blacks, I believe. I think any actual meaning and explanation of 'presumptive' here is a lot more boring and expected - it simply shows the all too common self-inflation and pretentiousness of so many of our pols. Especially the long term hacks that run 'committees' ..they believe ANYONE who expresses an opinion different than their own is 'presumptive' - in the 'how dare you' sense. This particular progressive pol actually believes and pushes the idea of reparations - he sneers at anyone who dares to differ in his hearing room.

wbfjrr2 said...

To Crack MC:

Why should I, who never owned a slave, nor did any of my ancestors (who came here in 1917), pay anything to you, who has never been a slave?

And why is it that many blacks who are descended from actual slaves have thrown off the victimhood cloak and made successes of themselves, while many blacks who are not the descendants of slaves choose to agitate for handouts instead of getting an education and/or job?

And why do you not see that what this "kid" is saying is the key to solving the most serious domestic crisis in our country, the plight of ghetto blacks (and whites for that matter): education and safety.

I think often of poor, righteous black parents trying to get their kids an education and out of the ghetto, and praying their kids don't get killed along the way by black gang hoodlums who are out of control in their neighborhoods. Think Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit etc, all controlled by Democrats for many decades. Because the Democrats could give a shit less about solving this problem, they believe it works to their benefit to keep blacks down. Obama is the most egregious example of not caring about blacks.

Ta Nehisi Coates is a racist ideologue who irritates thinking people while preaching nonsense to the victimhood community. Guess he hasn't actually helped murder anyone, a la Angela Davis, but he continues to contribute to the losing (and often fatal) proposition of eternal black victimhood.

Achilles said...

J. Farmer said...
The only reparations I would support is to give blacks a piece of American territory in which to build a black ethno-state.

Let them pick any state in the nation.

They will invariably pick New York or California. Good idea.

Achilles said...

The Crack Emcee said...
That kid said he knows we're talking about debts, but today's blacks aren't entitled to collect, when that was exactly the mandate handed down from our ancestors - he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Ta-Nehisi Coates' comments got to the nub of the problem, including an invitation to talk to the people directly affected, not someone half my age, defiantly standing on their shoulders.



Yeah. He is too young to know how awful it was being a slave.

When were you freed from slavery Crack?

Have you sued your former owner yet? Seems like you should be able to get compensation for unpaid wages.

J. Farmer said...

@Gospace:

That's similar to how Liberia got it's start as a country. Look at how well that turned out.

I would not necessarily expect it to turn out well for blacks, but in terms of historical justice, it's the offer I'd be willing to make. Of course, the flip side is that whites would be allowed an ethno-state as well.

@Achilles:

Let them pick any state in the nation.

Well I wouldn't let "them" pick a state. But I would probably be okay with some portions of southern Mississippi and Alabama along the Gulf to prevent a landlocked country. Michael Hart actually presented a plan for how the country could be racially partitioned at an American Renaissance conference. A video of the presentation used to exist but seems to be gone now.

Fen said...

Hughes said, "Black people don’t need another apology. We need safer neighborhoods and better schools. We need a less punitive criminal justice system. We need affordable health care. And none of these things can be achieved through reparations for slavery."

Brave man.

Problem with reparations - if your ancestor was an African Slave, it's very likely there are also African Slavers in your ancestral tree. African tribes started wars with each other for the express purpose of selling captives to the slave markets.

Fen said...

Ta Nehisi Coates is a racist ideologue who irritates thinking people while preaching nonsense to the victimhood community.

All true.

Nonetheless, there is NO EXCUSE for 90% black turnout for Dems, after the way the Left has enslaved them through welfare dependency, destroyed their families by encouraging a 70% out of wedlock birthrate, and in general taken them for granted and treated them as stupid rubes with all the racial fear-mongering.

It's as if the Republican party isn't even trying. We need to face up to that. WTF?

We all know a Mitt Romney. He would NEVER blackball an African-American from membership in his country club... but he won't sponsor one for membership either. That needs to change.

Fen said...

he only reparations I would support is to give blacks a piece of American territory in which to build a black ethno-state.

I was backstage for an opening of Black Panther, in a position to watch the audience watch the film. I wish you could have seen the look in their eyes when Wakanda was previewed. It was like a classroom of 6 year-olds watching the moon landing.

Fen said...

"Coleman Cruz Hughes (born 1996) is an American writer on issues of race in the United States, a columnist at Quillette, and a student in the Department of Philosophy at Columbia University. He is of African American and Puerto Rican descent. Sam Harris has described him as "brave, eloquent, restrained." He has been featured on the Heterodox Academy blog and published in The New York Times and the Columbia Daily Spectator. He has been interviewed by Glenn Loury, Sam Harris, and Dave Rubin.

Hughes objects to the politics of the far right and far left. He focuses on the importance of people taking responsibility to overcome whatever adversity they face. He charges that the dominant social justice discourse focuses on the agency of those of European descent, while ignoring the agency of those of African descent. He is concerned about a racial double standard with the potential to lead to social injustice. He describes his vision as "humanist," as opposed to "anti-racist." He also argues against reparations for slavery and affirmative action as effective ways to empower African-Americans." - Wiki

I had a hunch he was a Marine, he stands up like one.

He went on to describe reparations as not just divisive, but an “insult” to “many black Americans by putting a price on the suffering of their ancestors, and we would turn the relationship between black Americans and white Americans from a coalition into a transaction.”

Yup. I have the same problem when offered a 10% discount on ham & eggs as thanks for my military service. They mean well, but I don't take it.

TJM said...

My family (Irish) arrived in the US long after the Civil War ended but were also discriminated against, No Irish Need Apply. Can we get in on this left-wing loon scam?

Paul said...

If they want 'reparations'...for saving their great-great kin from being in a sh*thole continent, which would mean they would have been born in that sh*thole continent, then it is THEM who owe US for being here instead of there.

Narr said...

In history grad school one of my friends was a younger African-American woman, leftish but not obnoxious. She told people many times that she thanked her ancestors every day for enduring slavery, Jim Crow, and systemic discrimination so she could live in 1990s America.

Narr
Smart gal

ALP said...

Let's assume for a minute that reparations were made - paid out. Would this be similar to lawsuit in which the victims were 'made whole' with the settlement? And if so what would be the rationale for continuing any other program/funding that is aimed at the population you just made whole?

wildswan said...

There's a huge percentage of Americans who have African ancestry but who are "white" at this moment. But if substantial amounts of money are promised to those of African ancestry all these people will enter claims.

J. Farmer said...

@wildswan:

There's a huge percentage of Americans who have African ancestry but who are "white" at this moment. But if substantial amounts of money are promised to those of African ancestry all these people will enter claims.

Then of course there is the irony that black Americans, as a whole, are better off than blacks anywhere else on the planet. Black America has a higher standard of living and more wealth than the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.

Michael McNeil said...

Well I wouldn't let "them" pick a state. But I would probably be okay with some portions of southern Mississippi and Alabama along the Gulf to prevent a landlocked country. Michael Hart actually presented a plan for how the country could be racially partitioned at an American Renaissance conference.

Kind of like Israel “racially partitioning” into a separate Palestinian state, or the Romans “racially partitioning” to allow the Visigoths their own “federated” state (oh so respectful of Rome!) at Toulouse. Ah history!

Narr said...

West German law (used to) allow German citizenship to anyone who could prove German grandparentage. In the 1970s and 80s, by report, the number of Poles who could prove German grandparentage went up exponentially. I bet it has leveled off now.

Narr
I could claim it!

Gahrie said...

Then of course there is the irony that black Americans, as a whole, are better off than blacks anywhere else on the planet. Black America has a higher standard of living and more wealth than the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.

Not only that, but Black slaves in the United States were treated better than Black slaves anywhere else in the Americas, or taken by Muslim slavers. Fewer Black slaves were brought to the United States than to the Spanish or French colonies also.

Narr said...

North American slavery in its final form was distinguished by the fact that the slave population increased naturally. In Latin America and the Caribbean, slave population increases were usually only achieved by more importation of lots of slaves, who were worked to death quickly in a way that was rare (but not unknown!) in el Norte.

1526-1810 best figures I have to hand:

Spanish Am. 1.5mill
Brazil 3.6mill
Brit. Carib. 1.6mill
French Am. 1.6mill
Dutch Cols. .5mill
Brit. NA & US .4mill

The poor, mostly RC, Latin American countries that love to lecture the US were much more involved in that degenerate practice than we were.

Narr
And it shows

The Crack Emcee said...

Coates answered all this in his testimony. I imagine y'all don't check it because your ideology feels safer when not hearing it challenged. Better to listen to yourselves, talk yourselves further into limiting your vocabulary to the word "victim", like that's ever impressed anyone.

It's never impressed me.


gadfly said...

Kevin D. Williamson cuts through the over-simplified look-backford thinking of under-educated reparations proponent, Ta-Nehisi Coates some five years ago:

The political interests of African Americans, like those of other Americans, are best served by equality under the law. The economic interests of African Americans, like those of other Americans, are best served by a dynamic and growing economy, preferably one in which the labor force is liberated from the dysfunctional, antique Prussian model of education that contributes so much to black poverty. The people to whom reparations were owed are long dead; our duty is to the living, and to generations yet to come, and their interests are best served by liberty and prosperity, not by moral theater.

Narayanan said...

Also giving the hostage active role in own rescue is also good thing for their self appraisal post trauma

Francisco D said...

Coates answered all this in his testimony. I imagine y'all don't check it because your ideology feels safer when not hearing it challenged. Better to listen to yourselves, talk yourselves further into limiting your vocabulary to the word "victim", like that's ever impressed anyone.

Crack,

You are a bullshitter who has only impressed the highly gullible.

You know that better than anyone.

The Crack Emcee said...

I repeat: you won't check Coates' testimony because it challenges you.

Much better to swallow and re-swallow your own hyperbole and declare it good.

The Crack Emcee said...

Here's an article in The American Spectator: https://spectator.org/a-complete-clownshow-with-a-few-notable-exceptions/

Now why do you think the person most informed on history and reparations at the hearing (Ta-Nehisi Coates) was worthy of only one line - saying he "might be the most overrated scribbler on the American political scene" - after all he had to say?

Because whites are practicing lies of omission now, knowing other whites are low-information voters when it comes to their history.