Reparations and justice

June 19, 2019

Who owes what, and to whom?

This question occurred to me today as I read two different stories about historical wrongs perpetrated against two different peoples.

The first story is in today’s New York Times, and concerns hearings in the House of Representatives about whether or not the United States should pay reparations to African-Americans for slavery and for discrimination that has continued until the present time.

The second story is the history of the Irish people as told by Rick Steves in his Ireland 2019 guide book. I’ve been interested in Irish history for over 50 years, and am reading about it again in preparation for an upcoming trip to Ireland and Scotland. In his summary of Irish history, Steves informs us of the brutality of English rule in Ireland for 800 years, which included genocide, the seizure of all of the valuable land, and the unnecessary famine deaths of a million people. My ancestors were part of the emigration of somewhere between one to two million Irish who left their homeland to escape the oppression of their British overlords.

While there is no question that African-Americans and Irish suffered terribly at the hands of their inhumane masters and other abusers, as have American Indians, Jews, gays, and various minorities all over the world, the question is what if anything is owed to such people or their descendants.

I would argue that if someone harms another person, then the victim (but not their descendants) should receive restitution for the injury inflicted upon them. A good example of such a scenario would be the Japanese-Americans who were interned in relocation camps during World War II. In 1990, those individuals or their heirs did receive an apology and a check for $20,000 per internee (about $42,000 in today’s dollars) from the federal government. That compensation, however, was limited to the person who had been incarcerated or their immediate heirs, not to subsequent generations.

But aside from the practicalities and complexity of attempting to administer such a program for African-Americans or American Indians in this country or the Irish or Jews in this or other countries (see my previous blog post, “Who creates our reality?” dated February 22, 2019), let me add (a tad wryly) that I don’t feel entitled to reparations from the British. Yes, they stole the land and devastated the culture of my Irish ancestors, but nothing has been stolen from me. Why should the current residents of the United Kingdom be punished for the sins of their ancestors? Besides, that would be a bit awkward in my family. Should the fraction of me that is a Wigginton (English) pay reparations to my larger Kenney (Irish) side? Who am I, really – English? Irish? American? Who are you – are you your nationality, gender, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation? Is there more to you than meets the I?

In the grander scheme of things, we are (in my view) not limited to our current, physical identity. We are eternal beings who have chosen to incarnate in this lifetime and in other lifetimes in order to learn lessons and evolve our consciousness. We choose to be African-American or Irish or whatever, male or female, rich or poor, for the purpose of experiencing life from different perspectives. And to create good karma and learn from our karmic mistakes.

The only real justice in this world is that which we create for ourselves, through our choices of action, thought, and intention. John F. Kennedy, an American of Irish descent, once said that “Life is unfair.” And on the surface of things, that is true. But from a cause and effect perspective, ultimately we learn from our suffering and from our wise and unwise choices. We can blame others for our problems, and sometimes that blame is understandable. But even when our grievances are justified, and we demand atonement for our losses, even if we receive what we seek, it still does not serve us to live in the past. All we can ever really do is be the best that we can be with the hand we have been dealt in this lifetime. And realize that we are the one who dealt the cards in the first place.

No, the British government doesn’t owe me any reparations. But if they send me a check, I’ll cash it.