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Descendents seek reparations
On Sunday, Sept. 8 the Los Angeles Times
ran a story about two brothers who are suing
various U.S. corporation. The brothers,
Timothy Hurdle, 83, and Chester Hurdle,
75, are the sons of the late Andrew Jackson
Hurdle who was born into slavery in 1845.
The brothers believe that the companies
that profited from the labor of slaves such
as their father should be forced to repay
those profits.
Payment of reparations to descendents of
slaves by companies and corporations that
profited from slave labor is a topic that
has been discussed in the news time and
time again. The issue has been hotly debated
on both sides for years without change.
The vast majority of people or groups that
have filed lawsuits against U.S. corporations
have not been awarded reparations as of
yet, however, many still continue to fight
for what they feel is owed to them.
While they continue to fight for their cause,
the U.S companies and corporations continue
to successfully defend themselves against
the lawsuits.
People who sympathize with the plight of
the corporations argue that slavery occurred
so long ago that there is no one left alive
to punish. The current owners of the companies
have nothing to do with slavery; therefore
they should not be punished for crimes they
did not commit. Additionally, opponents
argue that the people who are suing were
never even enslaved.
Furthermore, many opponents worry about
what consequences may arise if the companies
were forced to pay reparations. Opponents
wonder where it will stop. Who will draw
the line in this litigious society that
will set a limit to the lawsuits demanding
reparations for past misdeeds?
Advocates of the reparations movement feel
that black Americans still suffer from the
effects of slavery and for this reason the
companies and corporations that profited
from slavery should be held accountable
for their actions.
They do not wish to punish the individual
people currently involved in the corporations,
but rather to monetarily punish the companies
themselves, which happens to be the only
way to punish a corporation.
It is difficult to distinguish between punishing
the people involved in a company and the
company itself, but by definition a corporation
is something created under authority of
law that has a continuous existence independent
of the existences of its members.
That definition implies that regardless
of who is running the corporation at any
particular time, the corporation remains
the same in the eyes of the law. The entity
is the same, so punishing the corporation
is not, in fact the same thing as punishing
the people who work for, or own the corporation.
The definition of a corporation also addresses
the argument that people who did not participate
in slavery would be punished, however, the
corporation itself profited from slave labor
and it is still in existence the corporation
is what will be punished.
This issue of slavery reparations may never
be solved, and will undoubtedly anger people
on both sides of the topic for years to
come, but perhaps the discussion of it will
bring about some degree of understanding
and willingness to compromise.
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