Louis wrote:
It is not only about
> African-Americans, it is about American Indians as well. For that matter
> the same kind of legalistic flim-flammery would apply to Indians as well.
> How can we give land to the Iroquois unless we can prove that they are 100
> percent Iroquois? As a rule of thumb, this kind of close racial examination
> is meant to steer the discussion away from social ethics.
I am not sure that I follow Louis' reasoning here, but I wonder what
should the reparations be for the majority of Iroquois that were
driven out of the United States (and are now resident in Canada)?
The Iroquois (meaning the 5 nations) were originally all in what is
now the United States. As McMillan writes, "Their [Iroquois] total
polulation [in Canada] is about 47,500, a figure substantially higher
than now exists in their American homeland." (1995, p. 89)
Also, what about the black population in the maritimes and in
southern Ontario who escaped via the underground railway?
I am not trying to be argumentative here Louis but to ask a serious
question about redistributive justice.
Paul Phillips,
Economics,
University of Manitoba
