Are You in Favor of Reparations?

Then Prove It. Start Reparating Now.

As for Me… No, I Don’t Think So. I’m Irish!

Libby, my affluent, NYT-reading neighbor, is a huge fan of Ibram X. Kendi, whose bestseller, How to Be Anti-Racist, opened her eyes to systemic racism, just as Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility opened her eyes to white privilege.

Limo Lou says, “What white privilege? I earned everything I got.”

“Your privilege is your white skin,” Libby says. “White men kidnapped Black Africans and brought them here as slaves.”

“I didn’t kidnap nobody,” Limo Lou says.

“It was your ancestors,” Libby counters. “And your ancestors, too,” she says, looking at me.

Libby is wrong. My ancestors were white. But they never enslaved Black people. Or people of any hue, as far as I know. Most came to the US from Ireland, after the Civil War. One, according to family lore, came in the early 19th century as an indentured servant. (The story is that indentured servants were transported in the bowels of the ship, not on top, because, having limited terms of indenture, they were less valuable than slaves.)

Libby feels guilty about her ancestors’ role in slavery. That’s understandable. If I had great grandparents that trafficked in or used slaves, I’d probably feel guilty, too. What I don’t understand is why Libby is spending time trying to convince others that they should vote for reparations, when she could be doing it, with her own money, right away.

As for me, I’m Irish. And the Irish are a very guilty people. But one thing we don’t have to feel guilty about is our ancestors’ role in the African slave trade.

NFT Update 

In the April 25 issue, I quoted Jonathan Perkins, cofounder of the NFT platform SuperRare, as saying this about NFTs (non-fungible tokens) as an investment: “There has been a lot of experimentation in the space, and I think we’re running up against the boundaries of speculation.”

Well… here we are. In what could be the fastest financial bubble to inflate and burst in history, the NFT market, which was exploding a year ago, is now imploding. In January, $17.2 billion worth of NFTs were traded. In September, it was down to $466 million. That’s a percentage loss of 97% and a drop in market value of more than $2 trillion.

Fake News of the Week… or Not? 

I was suspicious of the story when I read the headline:

Rising Artist Kahlil Robert Irving Files Complaint Against Chelsea’s High Line Hotel, Alleging Racial Discrimination 

“Is this another Jussie Smollett story?” I wondered. “A bogus complaint by a Black artist hoping to get his name out there by making false charges?”

But then I read it… and now I’m not sure. What do you think? Click here.