“My objective over the next 13 months of this campaign and over the years of my presidency is to figure out the things that unite America.” – RFK Jr.Thanks for reading The Kennedy Beacon!
Kennedy has stepped in the mud on this one. Reparations cannot help get votes as no matter what the amount, it will not be accepted as enough. Then he will lose votes as the people thinking they should get more - they will be angry. There is no winning on this issue. Maga voters he is courting, Hispanics he is courting and Asians will all have a different take and his ability to get their vote will lessen. What will the Japanese whose parents were in internment camps in WW2 think? Will hispanic immigrants want to pay taxes to fund decedents of slaves? How will American Indians feel? There is no way to win on this. My eastern European ancestors came long after the civil war - why should I pay? I am already paying as my top academic children were denied good schools due to racial preferences. Now I have to pay more. How is this fair?
You hit it on the head. The descendants of the Japanese internment camp detainees, the Native Americans, the list could go on and on. I never owned a slave. My paternal and maternal ancestors came to the United States from Europe after the Civil War. A more pressing issue on the reparations front is undoing the disastrous legislation that gave pharmaceutical companies immunity from responsibility on vaccine injuries. What about the people in just the last few years who got vaccinated under threat of loss of job and then suffered serious after-effects, even death from that mandated injection? What about reparations for them and their families?
Unless Kennedy does a complete reversal and comes out completely against reparations (which he can't do w/o getting mowed down by the progressive media), he's just fucked himself. How could he have been this stupid? This will be a non-starter for many independents, center right, and non black minorities. My friend who's from Korea just caught wind of this and told me he'd vote for Trump if RFK Jr took this position on reparations. There are plenty of other ways he can help the black community that is not so divisive and doesn't create resentment. I don't see how he can get the toothpaste back in the tube on this one.
He leaves it open that these other groups ("victims of Jim Crow and other victims of persecution") you mention below could get payments too.
>>>Hispanics he is courting and Asians will all have a different take and his ability to get their vote will lessen. What will the Japanese whose parents were in internment camps in WW2 think? Will hispanic immigrants want to pay taxes to fund decedents of slaves? How will American Indians feel? "
It looks like the 8-point plan has changed since this morning. No more discussion of reparations. The policy now makes sense. Take a look. https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
Coming out in support of reparations, which is arguably one of the most divisive issues on the political playing field, is, let me be frank, pure idiocy. We are talking about something that over 60% of liberal Californians are against. In one swell swoop, RFK will lose support of the significant numbers of conservatives, libertarians, and independents who support him, along with a significant portion of anti-woke liberals who know what a disaster this would be. The winning recipe that MLK and Fred Hampton both hit upon before they were assassinated, was a working class coalition of blacks, Latino's, and whites. The key being helping working class and poor people, all of whom today are struggling to pay their inflated rent and food and healthcare. Not giving dubious handouts based on something that we dealt with when his Father was alive. Time to move on. We have to attend to our nation and planet being hijacked by predatory capitalists and techno-fascists.
He's already changed the Civil Rights plan since this morning. No reparations. The policy now makes sense. Here's the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
I'm not responsible for what was done to people 100+ years ago. My children aren't responsible either. My tax dollars shouldn't be used to 'right' that wrong. If you want something that unites americans taking money from everyone via taxes and giving it to some sub-group that you deem worthy isn't going to unite anyone. Nothing the government does should be 'race' based or 'race' focused. Continuing to rely on 'race' as a classification simply perpetuates the idea that some races need help - they don't, they can achieve on their own just like eveyone else and there are tons of examples.
We shouldn't be trying to help 'blacks', we should be trying to help the communities where violance, drugs and poverty ruins the live of everyone that lives there. We need someone with some honesty to look at the facts and admit that the underlying issue isn't the race of the residents, or what was done to their ancestors, but rather the environment that they are living in and the lack of access to the things that would improve that environment. Lets take a look at education, family, laws, law enforcment, and communitiy building.
Doesn't make me feel better - this just shows that he's behaving like any other politican, says something the proves to be unpopular and then changes his tune. Doesn't give me great feelings about what he might do once he's elected.
Welp. So much for that. I’m 68. Lifetime R voter, Trump voter. An IT professional. I remember both assassinations. I’m also aware of RFKs anti-vax work and completely support it. The Pharmafia is a bigger danger to our future than even the stupid establishment nonstop wars. I re-registered D to vote for him in the primary in my state before he went Indie.
.... but reparations? Seriously?
It’s now past-obvious he is not a serious candidate but a serious spoiler. Blacks move toward Trump, and he hires his DS relative to manage a campaign whose entire purpose stands naked before is: stop Trump.
Blacks smart enough to know that their future is based on accountability and a free country are not so stupid as RFK thinks they are; they will not move from Trump to D for the stupendous Marxist idiocy of reparations.
I thought I was going to campaign, donate, and vote for Kennedy. But I cannot support dumb ideas like reparations for anyone. He really has to walk this back.
I wish he wouldn’t have used the words “reparations” because it connotes direct payments to individuals. But this isn’t what he’s saying. It’s more infrastructure-focused.
I thought that at first, too, but his pledge makes it sound as though he also supports direct payments, per this New York Post quote: “‘These programs complement direct redress payments or tax credits to the descendants of the victims of Jim Crow and other victims of persecution,’ the pledge continues. ‘RFK Jr. will find ways to offer this redress that are legal, fair, and win the approval of Americans of all races.’”
I think this idea is fraught with problems. I am thinking of the black activist who was so vocal about supporting reparations until she discovered one of her direct ancestors was a white person who came over on the Mayflower. The point is, most of us are of mixed heritage, so how would we even determine who would get reparations?
I think Kennedy will lose a lot of support over this; it certainly disappoints me, a strong supporter.
"Redress" is actually broader than reparations because it includes more remedies that go beyond simple repair. Some things cant get repaired. But you can get redress which assures you get your "comeuppance" in some form.
Thank you for the clarification, but what does the word “direct” in “direct redress” mean then? Also, receiving tax credits seems to me to be fairly straightforward payment.
I think it's pretty clear that RFK does not support universal reparations for slavery. His policy appears to be targeted towards specific issues that took place during the mid-20th century. It was extremely careless of the Kennedy Beacon to allow this article to be published. It was not helpful and the damage that it has done may be undoable.
I must say that I have watched this campaign with interest but this issue ( and a couple of others like the fake climate change ) but THIS one?? Seriously???? WE DO NOT NEED ANY MORE NANNY STATE!! We help people by helping them HELP THEMSELVES NOT GIVING THEM MONEY!! Money we CAN NOT AFFORD. If he can somehow cut back on 99% of the pork and grift going on in federal finances and then spend less than 1/4 of that on some programs to AID the poorest of poor in our country then GREAT. But no matter how you slice it we are in DEEP FINANCIAL TROUBLE. The way out of this is NOT more spending. Sorry. You've lost me 100%.
Money to rebuild black infrastructure, small business, etc and use term “reparations”: brilliant
Who wouldn’t rather have seen the money we spent in Ukraine go towards something positive in America?
Imagine going to an elementary school and making an announcement that only black children will be served cake; And then serving the cake based on skin color. What would happen in every classroom? Would that improve race relations ... or cause all out war? If you think we are not a Nation of grown up babies, I invite you to go on social media and read the comment thread of any controversial political topic. Direct redress payments is a great way to reduce the entire country to the worse race related fights we’ve ever seen.
Personally, I think every “Woke” Globalist policy (open borders, destroying families, inciting race wars, censorship, gun control, etc) is intended to destroy America from within. I hope Kennedy remains true to himself and old school Democratic values. He has declared himself Independent but I think it’s more important he prevails as a Centrist and Not a “Woke Independent”. Because any amount of “wokeness” means you’re not Independent at all. Not in your thinking.
So, should we use the 1 drop rule to see who gets money? /s What reparations represent is the idea that if your (say) grandparent committed a crime, you are now responsible. And we decided, already here in America, that you cannot punish the grandchild for the grandparents crime. End of story, or if repealed, game on, for all crimes ever committed.
Hi RFK, Jr, I'm a big fan and appreciate your real and truly balanced approach. Regarding racism, let's stop calling it "race" - the minor differences including color are simply not "race". We're all humans - one single species with 99.9% shared DNA. So let's start with the US Census and eliminating the government requirement tat companies ask people to identify one's "race". See this recent article from the Washington Post on the subject: "Race isn’t real, science says. Advocates want the census to reflect that."
"A small but vocal group of professionals and academics imagine a future where categories don’t matter"
By Sydney Trent
Updated October 16, 2023 at 9:27 a.m. EDT|Published October 16, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EDT
This finding isn't new, really, and evidence is clear - and the US Census even acknowledges that. We just need to stop perpetuating disharmony by focusing on these "racial" differences. They are more cultural than anything. Let's take reuniting Americans to the next level by eliminating this artificial distinction.
I'm sorry, RFK Jr loses my support with reparations for Americans of African origin.
Can we find appropriate reparations for all the American Indians, all the deaths, all the broken treaties, all the alcoholism, poverty & despair these cultures have suffered? Can we give back the land that was stolen from them?
Can we give reparations to every single American woman, who for more than hundred years could not vote, own property, or have legal rights to the children they gave birth to? Who "couldn't be raped" by their husband? Or who could be beaten by them also?
How about the Chinese or other Asian people who helped build the infrastructure of our fledgling Nation, immigrated, worked, lived and died, and had no rights at all?
If you dredge up the past to find all the harms one group of humans has perpetrated upon another, even with the best of intentions, all you do is perpetuate the inequalities, the wounds, the trauma, out into the future.
It's time to just live up to the aspirational documents and beliefs our young Nation was founded upon- Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness, for everyone, red, yellow, white, black or brown, rich or poor, male or female, city dweller or country lover.
We will do much better by working to improve our NOW than to keep reliving the horrors of the past. No matter how many hands up you give, you may not solve the problem. Six generation welfare families helps no one.
Immigrants coming here with nothing can be Doctors, Physicists, & Lawyers in one generation, if we have a lawful society, strong economy, and excellent school system. African Americans can also choose this route, if our society supports it fully.
Getting the drugs off our streets would be more helpful, cleaning up the cities and cracking down on crime, so that kids can go to school safely, and raising the standards of all American schools would go a long way to helping all disadvantaged groups in the USA.
That is the finest way to LIFT EVERYONE.
Not just one special interest, or agrieved group of people.
And while I comprehend affirmative action, and why we decided for it, for African Americans, it has led to some entrenched problems as well.
The great Frederick Douglas argued against it because he was wise enough to see those issues before we ever chose that path. Reparations will cause even more division and despair. What about the American Indians? Dear Lord, if anyone deserves reparations it's these People!
You cannot fix the past. You can work really hard to improve the now, and honestly, money isn't usually the best way forward. Education, safe streets, a thriving economy, and a clean environment with top notch infrastructure is the best Government can accomplish. The rest is up to the individual, and it matters that they help themselves too.
We are a poor nation, now, given the stunning levels of debt we have acquired, and cannot pay the checks we are writing.
You cannot destroy the economy, the currency and the health of a nation all at the same time while quadrupling the debt. Our Nation will never dig out of this mess while we continue to destroy our fiscal reason.
Bobby is making his second large error, in my mind.
Kennedy has always said he listens to us, his supporters. So I believe he listened to all of us yesterday, and realized that this was a step too far. And I am thankful that he listen to us! I think the rest of his 8 point plan is good. Hopefully your family can continue to support him.
One thing I admire about RFK Junior is his openness and willingness to discuss difficult subjects. This can't really be done in a three minute clip on TV. I really appreciate his lengthy discussions with podcasters. I hope he will address this particular subject at some point, and that I run across it.
I can't say I support anybody yet, but I am listening, and trying to get friends and family to listen also, rather than to go along with their a particular crowd. I haven't even started to look into Cornel West yet.
“We must take direct action to remedy it—not only for the sake of Black people, but for the wellbeing of the entire nation. He will appeal not to guilt and blame, but to the conscience of Americans of all races who want to repair the wounds of history.”
The conscience is the operator of guilt. A ridiculous statement.
If Kennedy wants to repair the wounds of history, he can begin by taking his old party to court for its war for slavery and Jim Crow. He likes taking corrupt organizations to court. We have two running our country.
The only reason that this is even an issue now is because of woke identity politics. It is a toxic, divisive issue that the vast majority of Americans don't support
I like most of your comments except I do not believe reparations for Black people is appropriate. If that’s done everyone else who is a minority will demand the same thing. I as an American am tired of paying for other people. This is not a good situation.
And Iroquois? Cree? Cherokee? Lakota? Shasta? Let's give all their land back!
What about all women, or the decendents of women who worked for free, didn't get the vote until long after African American males, who didn't have the right to own property or stop being raped by their "husbands" ?
Hmm.
Here's what was said about me-
"Educating a woman is like pouring whiskey in a shoe. Not only do you lose the whiskey, you ruin the shoe!" Women who lived under those men couldn't even get an education, much less have any real Freedom.
I think all women deserve 6000 years of unchallenged rule on planet Earth That would even the playing field, finally!
Am I likely to get it? Make others understand why it is the only way to set things right on Mother Earth?
No.
I'm not paying reparations for something I never did, and I'm pretty generous. And most people won't even see the harms, much less the fair solutions.
Chinese Americans were treated even worse, in many cases, and yet their kids out perform WASP kids routinely in college admissions.
I'm sick of male aggression. Can I make it go away? No, the boys themselves need to tackle it.
Creating a level playing field is the very best a government & a society can do, after acknowledging the evils of the past.
I'm not for racism, or anything that treats people differently because of the color of their skin, their religion, their sex, or their culture.
But American needs to stop stirring the racism pot, imho. We must put the past behind us and move forward, imho.
And if anyone deserves reparations, it's every single woman on Earth who's had to live through six thousand years of male domination, abuse, and enslavement.
And the war culture too many males are invested in and therefore killed, raped & destroyed wantonly, all over our beautiful Earth.
Do women start wars? Fight them? No. Throughout history, we do not. Yet we died, and our children died, suffered and were psychologically tortured by the men living out their darkest fantasies at the expense of non-violent women and children.
Hitler to Ghengis Khan.
Zelensky to Biden.
Putin to Bush.
I'm frankly fed up with all men and their desire to wave their male egos everywhere, killing entire nations if they get their knickers in a twist.
Who is at fault for all of humanity's violence?
Men are. Throughout history. They are constitutionally unfit to weild power, in many cases.
Can I get war reparations from them?
Not gonna happen.
But, I can run for office, finally, build a business that focuses on health, not disease, vote, and tell my husband to buzz off if he gets too aggressive with me.
Ditto for every disenfranchised group from the dawn of time, if we live up to Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness, don't bankrupt our Nation with idiotic spending of monies we don't have, or get ourselves destroyed by starting too many wars and creating so many enemies we cannot survive.
So I'm looking at this from more angles than just one. We need a strong nation with Liberty & Justice for all. To get there our differences are not what we should be focusing on, or our own hurts.
We need to be focused on keeping our Nation honest. Making sure everyone has the same opportunities, regardless of historical horrors, and building a powerful economy, a peace dividend, a healthy environment & world class infrastructure.
The rest is up to the individual, not the collective.
Well, I guess that went over like the proverbial "lead balloon."
But, Bobby made me nervous with his 3% mortgages, farms for drug addicts, and foolish positions on wind & solar which are neither free nor efficient, all when our Nation is in the worst debt ever, and cannot pay the interest on the monies they are borrowing now! With "reparations" to African Americans I'm done. He's just another tax and spend Democrat with an ever expanding business model that I must pay for while I watch my Nation drown in debt from one reckless and incompetent Government after another.
Kennedy has stepped in the mud on this one. Reparations cannot help get votes as no matter what the amount, it will not be accepted as enough. Then he will lose votes as the people thinking they should get more - they will be angry. There is no winning on this issue. Maga voters he is courting, Hispanics he is courting and Asians will all have a different take and his ability to get their vote will lessen. What will the Japanese whose parents were in internment camps in WW2 think? Will hispanic immigrants want to pay taxes to fund decedents of slaves? How will American Indians feel? There is no way to win on this. My eastern European ancestors came long after the civil war - why should I pay? I am already paying as my top academic children were denied good schools due to racial preferences. Now I have to pay more. How is this fair?
You hit it on the head. The descendants of the Japanese internment camp detainees, the Native Americans, the list could go on and on. I never owned a slave. My paternal and maternal ancestors came to the United States from Europe after the Civil War. A more pressing issue on the reparations front is undoing the disastrous legislation that gave pharmaceutical companies immunity from responsibility on vaccine injuries. What about the people in just the last few years who got vaccinated under threat of loss of job and then suffered serious after-effects, even death from that mandated injection? What about reparations for them and their families?
Unless Kennedy does a complete reversal and comes out completely against reparations (which he can't do w/o getting mowed down by the progressive media), he's just fucked himself. How could he have been this stupid? This will be a non-starter for many independents, center right, and non black minorities. My friend who's from Korea just caught wind of this and told me he'd vote for Trump if RFK Jr took this position on reparations. There are plenty of other ways he can help the black community that is not so divisive and doesn't create resentment. I don't see how he can get the toothpaste back in the tube on this one.
He leaves it open that these other groups ("victims of Jim Crow and other victims of persecution") you mention below could get payments too.
>>>Hispanics he is courting and Asians will all have a different take and his ability to get their vote will lessen. What will the Japanese whose parents were in internment camps in WW2 think? Will hispanic immigrants want to pay taxes to fund decedents of slaves? How will American Indians feel? "
It looks like the 8-point plan has changed since this morning. No more discussion of reparations. The policy now makes sense. Take a look. https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
Yes. The kind made when poll numbers ard not good enough.
Coming out in support of reparations, which is arguably one of the most divisive issues on the political playing field, is, let me be frank, pure idiocy. We are talking about something that over 60% of liberal Californians are against. In one swell swoop, RFK will lose support of the significant numbers of conservatives, libertarians, and independents who support him, along with a significant portion of anti-woke liberals who know what a disaster this would be. The winning recipe that MLK and Fred Hampton both hit upon before they were assassinated, was a working class coalition of blacks, Latino's, and whites. The key being helping working class and poor people, all of whom today are struggling to pay their inflated rent and food and healthcare. Not giving dubious handouts based on something that we dealt with when his Father was alive. Time to move on. We have to attend to our nation and planet being hijacked by predatory capitalists and techno-fascists.
He's already changed the Civil Rights plan since this morning. No reparations. The policy now makes sense. Here's the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
Thank you. I just saw that and came back to add to my comment. Still a stupid blunder.
Can’t disagree with you there. But thankfully they responded quickly, and walked it back.
100% lost my vote with this policy.
I'm not responsible for what was done to people 100+ years ago. My children aren't responsible either. My tax dollars shouldn't be used to 'right' that wrong. If you want something that unites americans taking money from everyone via taxes and giving it to some sub-group that you deem worthy isn't going to unite anyone. Nothing the government does should be 'race' based or 'race' focused. Continuing to rely on 'race' as a classification simply perpetuates the idea that some races need help - they don't, they can achieve on their own just like eveyone else and there are tons of examples.
We shouldn't be trying to help 'blacks', we should be trying to help the communities where violance, drugs and poverty ruins the live of everyone that lives there. We need someone with some honesty to look at the facts and admit that the underlying issue isn't the race of the residents, or what was done to their ancestors, but rather the environment that they are living in and the lack of access to the things that would improve that environment. Lets take a look at education, family, laws, law enforcment, and communitiy building.
Yes, there have been further clarifications, and he's not talking about cash reparations to African Americans.
Doesn't make me feel better - this just shows that he's behaving like any other politican, says something the proves to be unpopular and then changes his tune. Doesn't give me great feelings about what he might do once he's elected.
Check out the revised web page. No longer makes any mention of reparations.
https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
Welp. So much for that. I’m 68. Lifetime R voter, Trump voter. An IT professional. I remember both assassinations. I’m also aware of RFKs anti-vax work and completely support it. The Pharmafia is a bigger danger to our future than even the stupid establishment nonstop wars. I re-registered D to vote for him in the primary in my state before he went Indie.
.... but reparations? Seriously?
It’s now past-obvious he is not a serious candidate but a serious spoiler. Blacks move toward Trump, and he hires his DS relative to manage a campaign whose entire purpose stands naked before is: stop Trump.
Blacks smart enough to know that their future is based on accountability and a free country are not so stupid as RFK thinks they are; they will not move from Trump to D for the stupendous Marxist idiocy of reparations.
Dumb
Dumb
Dumb
Andrea is correct. Upon further clarifications, he's not talking about cash reparations.
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
He's lost my vote. I thought he wanted to build a common, hopeful future. "Reparations" is part of the BLM "divide and ruin" toolkit.
On further clarification, RFK is NOT talking about cash reparations...
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
I thought I was going to campaign, donate, and vote for Kennedy. But I cannot support dumb ideas like reparations for anyone. He really has to walk this back.
He walked it back. No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
I thought he might! He always does the right thing and the intelligent thing. Very happy to hear this.
I wish he wouldn’t have used the words “reparations” because it connotes direct payments to individuals. But this isn’t what he’s saying. It’s more infrastructure-focused.
I thought that at first, too, but his pledge makes it sound as though he also supports direct payments, per this New York Post quote: “‘These programs complement direct redress payments or tax credits to the descendants of the victims of Jim Crow and other victims of persecution,’ the pledge continues. ‘RFK Jr. will find ways to offer this redress that are legal, fair, and win the approval of Americans of all races.’”
I think this idea is fraught with problems. I am thinking of the black activist who was so vocal about supporting reparations until she discovered one of her direct ancestors was a white person who came over on the Mayflower. The point is, most of us are of mixed heritage, so how would we even determine who would get reparations?
I think Kennedy will lose a lot of support over this; it certainly disappoints me, a strong supporter.
"Redress" is actually broader than reparations because it includes more remedies that go beyond simple repair. Some things cant get repaired. But you can get redress which assures you get your "comeuppance" in some form.
ps I am a lawyer.
Thank you for the clarification, but what does the word “direct” in “direct redress” mean then? Also, receiving tax credits seems to me to be fairly straightforward payment.
It means directly to the end recipient, without any mediating body getting their hands on it.
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
Oh I missed that line in the article...
Thank you for your thoughtful and complete response. I’m certainly disappointed to hear this.
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
Turns out he's not arguing for cash reparations after all. But it was a mistake to let it go this far. That's a toxic issue
I think it's pretty clear that RFK does not support universal reparations for slavery. His policy appears to be targeted towards specific issues that took place during the mid-20th century. It was extremely careless of the Kennedy Beacon to allow this article to be published. It was not helpful and the damage that it has done may be undoable.
No longer any mention of reparations. See revised web page: No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
I must say that I have watched this campaign with interest but this issue ( and a couple of others like the fake climate change ) but THIS one?? Seriously???? WE DO NOT NEED ANY MORE NANNY STATE!! We help people by helping them HELP THEMSELVES NOT GIVING THEM MONEY!! Money we CAN NOT AFFORD. If he can somehow cut back on 99% of the pork and grift going on in federal finances and then spend less than 1/4 of that on some programs to AID the poorest of poor in our country then GREAT. But no matter how you slice it we are in DEEP FINANCIAL TROUBLE. The way out of this is NOT more spending. Sorry. You've lost me 100%.
On further clarification, RFK is NOT talking about cash reparations. See his Twitter page
Hey, since this morning the web page has changed. No longer any mention of reparations on the web page! https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
Money to rebuild black infrastructure, small business, etc and use term “reparations”: brilliant
Who wouldn’t rather have seen the money we spent in Ukraine go towards something positive in America?
Imagine going to an elementary school and making an announcement that only black children will be served cake; And then serving the cake based on skin color. What would happen in every classroom? Would that improve race relations ... or cause all out war? If you think we are not a Nation of grown up babies, I invite you to go on social media and read the comment thread of any controversial political topic. Direct redress payments is a great way to reduce the entire country to the worse race related fights we’ve ever seen.
Personally, I think every “Woke” Globalist policy (open borders, destroying families, inciting race wars, censorship, gun control, etc) is intended to destroy America from within. I hope Kennedy remains true to himself and old school Democratic values. He has declared himself Independent but I think it’s more important he prevails as a Centrist and Not a “Woke Independent”. Because any amount of “wokeness” means you’re not Independent at all. Not in your thinking.
You can't get more woke than reparations. That position was only espoused until recently by the Uhuru Soldarity Movement.
Agreed. The way to repair race relations is returning to MLK teachings, not reparations.
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
First his pro-war Israel stance, then Kucinich leaving, and now this? Uggghhhhh. C’mon Bobby don’t make me vote for Trump.
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page.
Take a look. https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
Even 60% of Californians are against reparations
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
So, should we use the 1 drop rule to see who gets money? /s What reparations represent is the idea that if your (say) grandparent committed a crime, you are now responsible. And we decided, already here in America, that you cannot punish the grandchild for the grandparents crime. End of story, or if repealed, game on, for all crimes ever committed.
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
Hi RFK, Jr, I'm a big fan and appreciate your real and truly balanced approach. Regarding racism, let's stop calling it "race" - the minor differences including color are simply not "race". We're all humans - one single species with 99.9% shared DNA. So let's start with the US Census and eliminating the government requirement tat companies ask people to identify one's "race". See this recent article from the Washington Post on the subject: "Race isn’t real, science says. Advocates want the census to reflect that."
"A small but vocal group of professionals and academics imagine a future where categories don’t matter"
By Sydney Trent
Updated October 16, 2023 at 9:27 a.m. EDT|Published October 16, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EDT
This finding isn't new, really, and evidence is clear - and the US Census even acknowledges that. We just need to stop perpetuating disharmony by focusing on these "racial" differences. They are more cultural than anything. Let's take reuniting Americans to the next level by eliminating this artificial distinction.
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
I'm sorry, RFK Jr loses my support with reparations for Americans of African origin.
Can we find appropriate reparations for all the American Indians, all the deaths, all the broken treaties, all the alcoholism, poverty & despair these cultures have suffered? Can we give back the land that was stolen from them?
Can we give reparations to every single American woman, who for more than hundred years could not vote, own property, or have legal rights to the children they gave birth to? Who "couldn't be raped" by their husband? Or who could be beaten by them also?
How about the Chinese or other Asian people who helped build the infrastructure of our fledgling Nation, immigrated, worked, lived and died, and had no rights at all?
If you dredge up the past to find all the harms one group of humans has perpetrated upon another, even with the best of intentions, all you do is perpetuate the inequalities, the wounds, the trauma, out into the future.
It's time to just live up to the aspirational documents and beliefs our young Nation was founded upon- Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness, for everyone, red, yellow, white, black or brown, rich or poor, male or female, city dweller or country lover.
We will do much better by working to improve our NOW than to keep reliving the horrors of the past. No matter how many hands up you give, you may not solve the problem. Six generation welfare families helps no one.
Immigrants coming here with nothing can be Doctors, Physicists, & Lawyers in one generation, if we have a lawful society, strong economy, and excellent school system. African Americans can also choose this route, if our society supports it fully.
Getting the drugs off our streets would be more helpful, cleaning up the cities and cracking down on crime, so that kids can go to school safely, and raising the standards of all American schools would go a long way to helping all disadvantaged groups in the USA.
That is the finest way to LIFT EVERYONE.
Not just one special interest, or agrieved group of people.
And while I comprehend affirmative action, and why we decided for it, for African Americans, it has led to some entrenched problems as well.
The great Frederick Douglas argued against it because he was wise enough to see those issues before we ever chose that path. Reparations will cause even more division and despair. What about the American Indians? Dear Lord, if anyone deserves reparations it's these People!
You cannot fix the past. You can work really hard to improve the now, and honestly, money isn't usually the best way forward. Education, safe streets, a thriving economy, and a clean environment with top notch infrastructure is the best Government can accomplish. The rest is up to the individual, and it matters that they help themselves too.
We are a poor nation, now, given the stunning levels of debt we have acquired, and cannot pay the checks we are writing.
You cannot destroy the economy, the currency and the health of a nation all at the same time while quadrupling the debt. Our Nation will never dig out of this mess while we continue to destroy our fiscal reason.
Bobby is making his second large error, in my mind.
I fear it will be in many others as well.
On further clarification, RFK does NOT support cash reparations...
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
Family members heard the word "reparations" and lost all interest in RFK Junior. How do we reply to that?
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
Not quite sure what to think about that! Thank you.
Kennedy has always said he listens to us, his supporters. So I believe he listened to all of us yesterday, and realized that this was a step too far. And I am thankful that he listen to us! I think the rest of his 8 point plan is good. Hopefully your family can continue to support him.
One thing I admire about RFK Junior is his openness and willingness to discuss difficult subjects. This can't really be done in a three minute clip on TV. I really appreciate his lengthy discussions with podcasters. I hope he will address this particular subject at some point, and that I run across it.
I can't say I support anybody yet, but I am listening, and trying to get friends and family to listen also, rather than to go along with their a particular crowd. I haven't even started to look into Cornel West yet.
Just to clarify, I believe his 8-point plan as it stands now, is very good! .I hope your family members will agree! 🤞
“We must take direct action to remedy it—not only for the sake of Black people, but for the wellbeing of the entire nation. He will appeal not to guilt and blame, but to the conscience of Americans of all races who want to repair the wounds of history.”
The conscience is the operator of guilt. A ridiculous statement.
If Kennedy wants to repair the wounds of history, he can begin by taking his old party to court for its war for slavery and Jim Crow. He likes taking corrupt organizations to court. We have two running our country.
https://freeblackthought.substack.com/p/the-donkey-in-the-room
The only reason that this is even an issue now is because of woke identity politics. It is a toxic, divisive issue that the vast majority of Americans don't support
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
I like most of your comments except I do not believe reparations for Black people is appropriate. If that’s done everyone else who is a minority will demand the same thing. I as an American am tired of paying for other people. This is not a good situation.
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
• "direct redress payments or tax credits to the descendents (sic) of the victims of Jim Crow and other victims of persecution."
https://kennedy24.com/racial_healing
It really couldn't be clearer. Any descendant of a black in America pre-1966 is entitled to the direct redress payment.
FYI, No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
And Iroquois? Cree? Cherokee? Lakota? Shasta? Let's give all their land back!
What about all women, or the decendents of women who worked for free, didn't get the vote until long after African American males, who didn't have the right to own property or stop being raped by their "husbands" ?
Hmm.
Here's what was said about me-
"Educating a woman is like pouring whiskey in a shoe. Not only do you lose the whiskey, you ruin the shoe!" Women who lived under those men couldn't even get an education, much less have any real Freedom.
I think all women deserve 6000 years of unchallenged rule on planet Earth That would even the playing field, finally!
Am I likely to get it? Make others understand why it is the only way to set things right on Mother Earth?
No.
I'm not paying reparations for something I never did, and I'm pretty generous. And most people won't even see the harms, much less the fair solutions.
Chinese Americans were treated even worse, in many cases, and yet their kids out perform WASP kids routinely in college admissions.
I'm sick of male aggression. Can I make it go away? No, the boys themselves need to tackle it.
Creating a level playing field is the very best a government & a society can do, after acknowledging the evils of the past.
I'm not for racism, or anything that treats people differently because of the color of their skin, their religion, their sex, or their culture.
But American needs to stop stirring the racism pot, imho. We must put the past behind us and move forward, imho.
And if anyone deserves reparations, it's every single woman on Earth who's had to live through six thousand years of male domination, abuse, and enslavement.
And the war culture too many males are invested in and therefore killed, raped & destroyed wantonly, all over our beautiful Earth.
Do women start wars? Fight them? No. Throughout history, we do not. Yet we died, and our children died, suffered and were psychologically tortured by the men living out their darkest fantasies at the expense of non-violent women and children.
Hitler to Ghengis Khan.
Zelensky to Biden.
Putin to Bush.
I'm frankly fed up with all men and their desire to wave their male egos everywhere, killing entire nations if they get their knickers in a twist.
Who is at fault for all of humanity's violence?
Men are. Throughout history. They are constitutionally unfit to weild power, in many cases.
Can I get war reparations from them?
Not gonna happen.
But, I can run for office, finally, build a business that focuses on health, not disease, vote, and tell my husband to buzz off if he gets too aggressive with me.
Ditto for every disenfranchised group from the dawn of time, if we live up to Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness, don't bankrupt our Nation with idiotic spending of monies we don't have, or get ourselves destroyed by starting too many wars and creating so many enemies we cannot survive.
So I'm looking at this from more angles than just one. We need a strong nation with Liberty & Justice for all. To get there our differences are not what we should be focusing on, or our own hurts.
We need to be focused on keeping our Nation honest. Making sure everyone has the same opportunities, regardless of historical horrors, and building a powerful economy, a peace dividend, a healthy environment & world class infrastructure.
The rest is up to the individual, not the collective.
No longer any mention of reparations on the web page: https://www.kennedy24.com/racial_healing
Well, I guess that went over like the proverbial "lead balloon."
But, Bobby made me nervous with his 3% mortgages, farms for drug addicts, and foolish positions on wind & solar which are neither free nor efficient, all when our Nation is in the worst debt ever, and cannot pay the interest on the monies they are borrowing now! With "reparations" to African Americans I'm done. He's just another tax and spend Democrat with an ever expanding business model that I must pay for while I watch my Nation drown in debt from one reckless and incompetent Government after another.
Well, it does look like he walked it back, thankfully!!