You’ve seen, I’m sure, the news reports from Zimbabwe, where black Africans have been seizing farms from, and in some cases killing, white Africans. The issue is land. What is now Zimbabwe was seized from the Bantu people by the British in the 19th century and, until a few decades ago, called Rhodesia. The majority black population has controlled the government in the years since independence, although much of the country’s best land remains in the hands of white farmers. Now, with the support of President Robert Mugabe, black Africans are seizing white-owned farms.
In New York State, several Iroquois nations are laying claim to their ancestral lands, which were, everyone agrees, illegally seized in the 18th and 19th centuries. Like the farmers of Zimbabwe, the white New Yorkers who now own the land find themselves pinched between an historic injustice crying for retribution and the fact that they purchased their land in good faith, investing their money and their lives.
In Sydney, Australia last week, a quarter million people marched to call for civil rights for aboriginal Australians. The Native Australians are seeking neither land nor money, but only and official apology – for now.
Finally, some African-American leaders want the federal government to make cash reparations to living African-Americans for hundreds of years of slavery, racism and discrimination.
First, the land claims: settle them. In Zimbabwe and New York, the land was stolen by force from its rightful owners. However, settling land claims in Zimbabwe should not mean handing over land to Mr. Mugabe and his thuggish cronies. True land reform can only take place in a democratic society, which is currently lacking in Zimbabwe. Once Zimbabwe’s political turmoil is resolved, land reform can go forward, with some parties getting land and others getting cash, which, by the way, should come from the UK. Call it the price of post-colonialism, make the queen sell a castle or two.
Same deal in New York – the Iroquois and their white neighbors will have to work out the details, but some should get the land and some should get the fair – and I emphasize fair – cash equivalent. And New York State should pick up the tab. It was New York that defied federal law when the land was seized and now it’s time to pay up. Does this sound cruel? Is what I’m suggesting wrong? If it were General Motors or the U.S. State Department that had been wronged, they’d demand retribution, wouldn’t they? And it wouldn’t take them a century or two to get it, either.
In Australia, it seems clear that a formal apology is more than warranted. Germany has apologized for its actions in the 20th century, Japan still owes apologies, and so do white Australians. If the apology opens the door to further demands, such as say, land reform, well, that may be warranted, too.
Then there are cash reparations for African-Americans. This is a tough one. How can money, any amount of money, ever hope to compensate for what has been done to African-Americans in our history and in contemporary American life? Yet, money talks – it’s the language we all understand. And it works, legally – you cause an injury, you make reparations. No one can deny the injury. And yet, what if we did arrive at a figure – a huge amount that became an act of financial penance for all white Americans? Would that wipe clean the slate? Would it make our injured fellow citizens whole again?
In 1865, Abraham Lincoln asked Americans “to bind up the nation’s wounds,” but they still bleed. In 1963, Martin Luther King called on the federal government to cash “a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice,” and that check is still not cashed. Yes, it will take money, but I think if we really want to right this wrong, we’ll have to reach into deeper places than our pockets.
The Price of Justice
You’ve seen, I’m sure, the news reports from Zimbabwe, where black Africans have been seizing farms from, and in some cases killing, white Africans. The issue is land. What is now Zimbabwe was seized from the Bantu people by the British in the 19th century and, until a few decades ago, called Rhodesia. The majority black population has controlled the government in the years since independence, although much of the country’s best land remains in the hands of white farmers. Now, with the support of President Robert Mugabe, black Africans are seizing white-owned farms.
In New York State, several Iroquois nations are laying claim to their ancestral lands, which were, everyone agrees, illegally seized in the 18th and 19th centuries. Like the farmers of Zimbabwe, the white New Yorkers who now own the land find themselves pinched between an historic injustice crying for retribution and the fact that they purchased their land in good faith, investing their money and their lives.
In Sydney, Australia last week, a quarter million people marched to call for civil rights for aboriginal Australians. The Native Australians are seeking neither land nor money, but only and official apology – for now.
Finally, some African-American leaders want the federal government to make cash reparations to living African-Americans for hundreds of years of slavery, racism and discrimination.
First, the land claims: settle them. In Zimbabwe and New York, the land was stolen by force from its rightful owners. However, settling land claims in Zimbabwe should not mean handing over land to Mr. Mugabe and his thuggish cronies. True land reform can only take place in a democratic society, which is currently lacking in Zimbabwe. Once Zimbabwe’s political turmoil is resolved, land reform can go forward, with some parties getting land and others getting cash, which, by the way, should come from the UK. Call it the price of post-colonialism, make the queen sell a castle or two.
Same deal in New York – the Iroquois and their white neighbors will have to work out the details, but some should get the land and some should get the fair – and I emphasize fair – cash equivalent. And New York State should pick up the tab. It was New York that defied federal law when the land was seized and now it’s time to pay up. Does this sound cruel? Is what I’m suggesting wrong? If it were General Motors or the U.S. State Department that had been wronged, they’d demand retribution, wouldn’t they? And it wouldn’t take them a century or two to get it, either.
In Australia, it seems clear that a formal apology is more than warranted. Germany has apologized for its actions in the 20th century, Japan still owes apologies, and so do white Australians. If the apology opens the door to further demands, such as say, land reform, well, that may be warranted, too.
Then there are cash reparations for African-Americans. This is a tough one. How can money, any amount of money, ever hope to compensate for what has been done to African-Americans in our history and in contemporary American life? Yet, money talks – it’s the language we all understand. And it works, legally – you cause an injury, you make reparations. No one can deny the injury. And yet, what if we did arrive at a figure – a huge amount that became an act of financial penance for all white Americans? Would that wipe clean the slate? Would it make our injured fellow citizens whole again?
In 1865, Abraham Lincoln asked Americans “to bind up the nation’s wounds,” but they still bleed. In 1963, Martin Luther King called on the federal government to cash “a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice,” and that check is still not cashed. Yes, it will take money, but I think if we really want to right this wrong, we’ll have to reach into deeper places than our pockets.