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RG_Lunatic said:As an example, when I was working at DUKE University, I knew a black man who was quite resentful of the fact that he worked in a textile factory owned and run by a family that's wealth came from their great-great-grandfather who made the money by exploiting, and often killing, his anscestors. I can certainly see his point - can't you? That family runs a large area based upon ill gotten wealth, and still control the lives of many of the descendants of their ancsestors victims through their ecomomic domination.
DerAdlerIstGelandet said:This is pretty much how I see it. Yes something should be done to companies that used slave labor or things of that nature like Krupp and Bayar, however I think that it should have been done earlier. You can not ask someone today who works or owns these companies to pay for what was done 60 or more years ago. That is like demanding that a man who nows lives on the property that his grandfather once used as a plantation give his house to a descendent of a slave. Or that a grandson of a concentration camp guard should not be allowed to live a normal life or be required to pay restitutions is also wrong. He had nothing to do with it. I dont think anyone who was born to someone who has done wrong is wrong. I do believe though that as was said it should not be forgotten and prevented and this is what you see now in modern germany, the future of Germany does not deny it they are just tired of being blamed for it. They were not alive and should not be.
DerAdlerIstGelandet said:RG_Lunatic said:As an example, when I was working at DUKE University, I knew a black man who was quite resentful of the fact that he worked in a textile factory owned and run by a family that's wealth came from their great-great-grandfather who made the money by exploiting, and often killing, his anscestors. I can certainly see his point - can't you? That family runs a large area based upon ill gotten wealth, and still control the lives of many of the descendants of their ancsestors victims through their ecomomic domination.
As for this one no offense but I have no sympothy for his man because he chose to work there. If he does not like it he can work someplace else.
RG_Lunatic said:DerAdlerIstGelandet said:This is pretty much how I see it. Yes something should be done to companies that used slave labor or things of that nature like Krupp and Bayar, however I think that it should have been done earlier. You can not ask someone today who works or owns these companies to pay for what was done 60 or more years ago. That is like demanding that a man who nows lives on the property that his grandfather once used as a plantation give his house to a descendent of a slave. Or that a grandson of a concentration camp guard should not be allowed to live a normal life or be required to pay restitutions is also wrong. He had nothing to do with it. I dont think anyone who was born to someone who has done wrong is wrong. I do believe though that as was said it should not be forgotten and prevented and this is what you see now in modern germany, the future of Germany does not deny it they are just tired of being blamed for it. They were not alive and should not be.
So they are rich based upon the doings of their fathers and the victims are poor and that is okay with you?
RG_Lunatic said:But the problem is that that family owns almost all the major businesses in the area. Schooling is poor. Finances are minimal. It is not so easy for the people who have lived there for generations to just pack up and move somwhere else with nothing.
I agree, something should have been done long ago. But is that a reason nothing should be done today? Is it right that a family should persist in holding billions of $ of assests dating back to the mid 1800's which were bought with profits from slavery and none of it should be used to compensate the families of those who actually did the work?
The fact is that where you end up in life is almost always dependant upon where you start. Yes there are a few exceptions, but statistically they are a minute percentage. The rich tend to get richer, the poor stay poor. When wealth is based upon evil acts, redress should be enforced. Don't you see that there is something wrong with the idea that if the wrong doers are politically/socially powerful enough to delay redress they get to keep all of their ill gotten gains?
RG_Lunatic said:No mention of Unit 731 is presented at all!
mosquitoman said:RG_Lunatic said:No mention of Unit 731 is presented at all!
What's Unit 731?
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, there was a backlash against all Japanese living in US. In repsonse, a battalion of Nisei volunteers (second generation Japanese-Americans) was organized from units of the Hawaiian National Guard and designated the 100th Battalion (Seperate). This unit was sent to Camp Shelby, MS for training in 1942. There were many skeptics that did not think the Nisei would be remain loyal to America. All the officers were haole (Hawaiian for white).
President Roosevelt was impressed with their training and on 1 February 1943, he directed the formation of a regiment that was designated the 442nd Infantry Regiment. With the addition of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion and the 232nd Engineer Battalion, along with the orignal 100th Battalion, the 442nd Combat Team was established at Camp Shelby.
The 442nd Combat Team went in combat in Italy. Just the 100th Battalion entered combat with the 34th Infantry Division on 27 September, 1943. Soon after the fall of Rome on 4 June, 1944, all the units of the 442nd Combat Team were together. They continued to fight in Italy and then in Southern France. The 442nd Combat Team, less the 522 Field Artillery Battalion, returned to Italy in April 1945, where they were attached to the 92nd Division.
The Nisei proved their loyality and their bravery. The 442nd Combat Team was one of the most highly decorated units in WW2. However, no members had earned the Congressional Medal of Honor by the end of the war. Some suggested it was still due to prejudice. After a review of their records in June 2000, President Clinton awarded an additional 20 Medals of Honor to members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Included in this group was U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, who had his right arm shattered by a grenade while successfully destroying three German machine gun nests in April 1945. Motto: GO FOR BROKE
http://members.aol.com/ItalyWW2/442RCT.htm
DerAdlerIstGelandet said:The only thing I do not agree with is the way the Japanese Americans were interned in camps like they were criminals even though they did nothing wrong just because they were of the same ethnic group. At the same time I think it is quite amazing how the Japanese Americans stood up and fought for the US after there families were treated so. The unit was the 442nd and they became the most decorated unit in WW2 for the United States. For me they are true heroes and should never be forgotten.