The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks

by Randall Robinson

Book Overview

Both an unflinching indictment of past wrongs and an impassioned call to America to educate its citizens about the history of Africa and its people, The Debt says in no uncertain terms what white... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525945245
• ISBN13: 9780525945246
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

One of my favourite books; poignant, intelligent arguments

I have read some of the user reviews that focus on the notion of debt, and it makes me question whether the persons in fact read the book in its entirety. So little of the book's focus was on reparations, and so much of the text was spent describing and illustrating generational poverty that has afflicted so many families, that one has to question the objectivity of the aforementioned reviews. The description of the lineage of poverty that has been passed down through the generations for vast numbers of American families was especially eloquent, vivid, and foreboding. It lays to waste the popular yet vapid and naive notion that "anyone" can make it in this society of minimum wage poverty, 60 hour-a-week working parents, broken education systems, and the like. I am of course but one anonymous voice, but the best I can do is urge everyone to look past our rose-coloured naivety and read this book with objective eyes to the arguments contained within.

Debate This Man And His Ideas At Your Peril.

I began my life with all the advantages; I am white, I am male, and I came from a great set of Parents who believed in, and provided the means for my education. By most measures I would be labeled a Conservative. This book is not about meaningless reference points that group individuals. Mr. Robinson makes an eloquent, articulate argument that I would love to see anyone debate him on its merits. I believe the challenger would emerge more composed if they walked through a spinning propeller, than to debate that the factual history and it's attendant atrocities, need not be addressed, and then amends made. My Father served in World War II and the Korean War. His service deserves all the respect his actions command. That service is irrelevant to this issue. My ancestors came over after the slaves were "FREED". This defense is not only pitiful and pathetic, but also specious as the concept of giving that which you have no right to posess is arrogant, it is an abomination. This book did not offend me; I would gladly designate my tax dollars to making a gesture to the black community, which has systematically been destroyed by White America. I do not believe the black community can ever be compensated for the victimization they were/are subjected to. Whether or not my ancestors participated in The Slave Trade is meaningless. Just as every child born today is instantly burdened by the National Debt of this Country, we who are here today must deal with the disaster that is The US History to destroy black history, culture, and Family. I do not suffer from "White Guilt". I am enraged at the level of hypocrisy that our children are taught. The fictional history, as revisionist is too mild. Read the Declaration of Independence. It was written by and for White, Male, Land-Owning, Moneyed, and in case of the majority of those who signed it, guaranteed their "right" to own, to use as currency, to rape, to kill, to torture, and to do whatever else amused them, with their human property. How can you stand as a white person inside the Jefferson Memorial and feel anything other than rage if you are alone, or shame if you stand with one of his victims, in front of the larger than life statue of one of the Country's greatest hypocrites. And don't raise your eyes, as the walls have all those words, the words that denied rights to, slaves, non-whites, poor whites, women, and children. We hold these rights to be self-evident that all white male land/slave-holding men are falsely elevated to their self-serving equality. That the pursuit of their happiness and wealth is unrestrained by any morality other than that which is convenient and expedient. Washington, Jefferson, The Young Turks Who Perpetrated the Armenian Genocide, Lenin, Stalin, Pol Pot who butchered Cambodians by the millions, Hitler's Holocaust, what a bunch of Founding Father Role Models! The Genocide that took place during the centuries of slavery is the greatest mass murder in History. The US is not alone

The Debt and how it can be paid.

Randall Robinson's book "The Debt: What America owes to Blacks" is an excellent, clearly written, succinct must-read text for all Americans. Indeed everyone everywhere would benefit from Robinson's eloquent assessment of the current state of affairs in Africa and the African diaspora, including issues from the most recent headlines. It is a worthy successor to "Before the Mayflower" and "They Came Before Columbus". It has been said, "The truth shall set you free". Here is truth to set free all of America, Africa and Europe, with practical ideas for remediating the current tragedies occuring in the African diaspora, particularly the inner cities of America, the Caribbean, and Africa itself. Read it, and send copies to your friends and family>

Outstanding, not to be missed

Mr. Robinson has written a brilliant, analytical, and unreservedly truthful account of an American dilemma that too many white Americans cannot honestly face - primarily because of what that history says about the hypocrisy of America. Some critics attempt to minimize the message by blathering about native Americans, but this does not ameliorate or soften Mr. Robinson's powerful arguments, nor does it detract from his message: That until America does the right and just thing with respect to the enormous debt owed to African Americans, there will be no peace. One critic laments the truth that is told about Washington and Jefferson, primarily because these mythical "heroes" are viewed as godlike, beyond reproach, a "product of their time" and thereby exempt from hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty. The great Samuel Johnson, a contemporary of theirs, had this to say about them: "How curious it is that those who bray loudest about liberty are themselves the drivers of slaves." Mr. Robinson is an unabashed seeker and speaker of the truth, and should be celebrated for his courage and honesty. This book is a spectacular achievement, and is recommended enthusiastically.

Yes there is a debt.

Speaking as a white man, I can say that if you believe there is no debt, you clearly have not read this book. Robinson thoroughly makes his case not by inducing hatred towards any race, but rather by requesting the same level of accountability from America that we demand from other countries. From Germany and the Swiss to South Africa, America forces them to make up the losses that they caused, and yet we ourselves are too proud to acknowledge the wrongs of our own past, and try to right them. Excellent book. I believe it should be required reading in our schools.