Do White Christians Deserve Reparations? July 15, 2021 Catholic League president Bill Donohue questions the legitimacy of reparations: The idea that the ancestors of slaves are owed reparations is based on the notion that white people owe black people money today because dead white people mistreated dead black people long ago. On this score alone, this is a racist proposal, the victims of whom are white. Why should those who did not suffer the indignity of slavery be awarded financial compensation? And why should those who had nothing to do with it be forced to pony up? But if this crazed idea is to be taken seriously, then white Christians are also deserving of reparations. Who should pay? Muslims. Economist Thomas Sowell recalls that it was Adam Smith, author of “The Wealth of Nations,” who observed in 1776 that Western Europe was the only place in the world where slavery did not exist. Sowell further notes that nowhere in the world was slavery a controversial issue prior to the 18th century. It wasn’t controversial in Africa or Asia or the Middle East—they were accustomed to slavery. No, it was in Western Europe and the newly created United States where objections were first registered. It seems odd, then, that the nations which ended slavery are the ones being tapped for reparations. Yet that is exactly what the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, wants. She recently said that those nations that “engaged in or profited from enslavement, the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans, and colonialism—as well as those who continue to profit from this legacy,” should pay reparations. Bachelet, like so many other elites around the world, never addresses the need for reparations to white Christians. They need to do so. Charles Sumner was an 18th century American politician, and one of America’s most famous abolitionists. He not only condemned black slavery, he condemned white slavery. Indeed, he wrote a book about it, “White Slavery in the Barbary States,” published in 1853. Sumner detailed how Muslim pirates from North Africa, called corsairs, “became the scourge of Christendom, while their much-dreaded system of slavery assumed a front of new terrors. Their ravages were not confined to the Mediterranean.” In fact, they extended to “the chalky cliffs of England, and even from the distant western coasts of Ireland,” forcing the inhabitants into “cruel captivity.” The most authoritative work on this subject can be found in Robert Davis’ book, “Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500-1800.” The Ohio State University professor of history estimates that “between 1530 and 1780 there was almost certainly 1 million and quite possibly as many as 1.25 million white, European Christians enslaved by the Muslims of the Barbary Coast.” How did the Muslim slavemasters manage to capture these white Christians? The Barbary pirates trolled the Mediterranean looking for ships to raid, taking their cargo and enslaving those on board. They also showed up at coastal towns of Italy, Spain, France, England, Ireland, and the Netherlands. “While the Barbary corsairs looted the cargo of ships they captured,” writes Davis, “their primary goal was to capture non-Muslim people for sale as slaves or for ransom.” Meaning that the pirates were out to enslave white Christians. It should be noted that they treated their slaves just as harshly as white slavemasters in America treated their slaves. “As far as daily living conditions,” he says, “the Mediterranean slaves certainly didn’t have it any better.” According to political scientist Abraham H. Miller, “For over two hundred years, during the mid-1600s to the 1830s, Barbary Muslims trafficked in white European Christians. The Ottoman Muslims trafficked in White Christian slavery started even earlier, in the 15th century. All in all, Muslims enslaved more than two million white European Christians.” Similarly, Sowell contends that the number of whites who were enslaved in North Africa by the Barbary pirates “exceeded the number of Africans enslaved in the United States and in the American colonies put together.” In fact, he adds, “white slaves were being brought and sold in the Ottoman Empire decades after blacks were freed in the United States.” This raises an interesting question: Are white Christians today owed reparations? Sowell knows the answer. “Nobody is going to North Africa for reparations, because nobody is going to be fool enough to give it to them.” “So,” Miller asks, “should white European Christians condemn all Muslims for their role in the enslavement of white European Christians? Should the Europeans of the Southern Mediterranean demand reparations from Muslims for the enslavement of their ancestors?” I would go further: Should present-day Muslims living in America be forced to pay reparations to white Christians living here today? According to the logic of those who work in the reparations industry—you don’t have to be personally guilty or personally victimized to qualify—the answer is clearly yes (though we would not support it). Perhaps the U.N.’s chief Human Rights official can offer some advice. But to do so she would first have to admit that her selective interest in this subject makes her unsuitable to continue. She should resign. Contact her at: mbachelet@ohchr.org |
-
Join 1,533 other followers
Archives
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
-
Recent Posts
- AT THE RATE BIDEN IS ENCOURAGING UNDOCMENTED ALIENS TO ENTER THE UNITED STATES THE DEMOCRATS WILL SOON HAVE AN UNBEATABLE MAJORITY IN EVERY ELECTION
- Boston was the epicenter of the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, and now it is the epicenter of child abuse again, although this time it is the medical profession that is the culprit.
- SOME BISHOPS ARE COOPERATING WITH SATAN
- There’s legitimate reason to worry about the future of all the ancient rites of the Church, but for now I’m thankful that the Ordinariate is available to English-speaking Catholics. It is my prayer that the traditional Latin Mass and the Ordinariate Mass—as well as the Eastern liturgies and other ancient Western liturgies—all flourish in the Church, glorifying God in diverse ways.
- THE TRIUMPH AND PEACE OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Top Posts & Pages
- SOME BISHOPS ARE COOPERATING WITH SATAN
- Boston was the epicenter of the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, and now it is the epicenter of child abuse again, although this time it is the medical profession that is the culprit.
- WORDS OF MARY TODAY ON THE SOLEMNITY OF HER ASSUMPTION INTO HEAVEN
- AT THE RATE BIDEN IS ENCOURAGING UNDOCMENTED ALIENS TO ENTER THE UNITED STATES THE DEMOCRATS WILL SOON HAVE AN UNBEATABLE MAJORITY IN EVERY ELECTION
- There’s legitimate reason to worry about the future of all the ancient rites of the Church, but for now I’m thankful that the Ordinariate is available to English-speaking Catholics. It is my prayer that the traditional Latin Mass and the Ordinariate Mass—as well as the Eastern liturgies and other ancient Western liturgies—all flourish in the Church, glorifying God in diverse ways.
- 2 ABOUT ME
- The Raid Heard 'Round the World: Are the Deep State & Deep Church Afraid of Trump & Vigano because they have Deep "State Secrets"?
- ONLY GOD CAN ANSWER THIS QUESTION, BUT WE WILL PROBABLY NOT BE SURPRISED WHEN GOD DOES GIVE US HIS ANSWER
- THE F.B.I HAS BECOME A DANGER TO THE NATION
- HOW CAN ANYONE SERIOUSLY CONTEND THAT JORGE BERGOLIO IS THE VICAR OF CHRIST
Top Clicks