I dunno, F/L, D.Long's argument about his ancestor's move to Boston deserving sympathy is pretty persuasive.
I'm sympathetic.... for what the Bostonians had to endure!
(Hold on! That was a good-natured zinger intended to tweak and tease, not flame.)
In defense of his position, my relatives have spoken of the NINA signs they endured (No Irish Need Apply), as well as open physical hostility. I don't think it's as bad as what African Americans endured. But I do think some reasonableness does need to be applied in discussions of reparations. In much of the US, black slavery never existed, for example. In other places, blacks held darker skinned blacks as slaves. Should Irish descendants, most of whom arrived in America in the last 15 years of legal slavery, pay reparations for something that probably very few (if any) took part in?
I favor reparations and as part of the Great Melting Pot, recognize that all team members pay the dues that were caused by the actions of the few. Yet I think it fair, in the search for a just resolution, that all the available facts be on the table, to promote greater racial and historical understanding.
(And D. Long? Hope you didn't take my zinger personally. I just can't resist an opening that wide, which you provided.) |
