I can appreciate the reality of the generational effects of slavery and empathize with the monumental (some would say impossible) task of trying to undertake a healing process to address such effects (e.g., descendants of those damaged by war also face a similar generational effects and healing processes). As we know, economic or financial reparations are intended not only to serve as compensation to the victims of the crimes against Africa, but also to serve as punishments and deterrents for the culpable parties. While I realize that financial reparations can do little to heal the damage caused by slavery, the nations that legitimized and profited from slavery accumulated untold wealth and power over the courses of their histories of the practice -- GOLD is what they worshiped over human rights and human life, so gold is what they should be forced to forfeit as the penalty for their crimes.
In the specific case of the USA, reparations to Africans for slavery should be accompanied by reparations to the victims of America's genocides and human right abuses throughout Latin America,Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Afghanistan, Syria, Indonesia, and so many more.
As an American, it would seem quite appropriate to see the U.S. government paying on the order of a half trillion dollars a year in reparations for as long as it takes to properly compensate the victims of it crimes. Washington wastes more than that annually on military power to preserve & expand the empire which it has established through crimes against humanity, so forfeiting an outflow of GOLD on that order-of-magnitude would seem appropriate to achieve the desired punitive effect and serve as a deterrent against future criminal behavior.
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