4. America Today Is A Multi-Ethnic Nation and Most Americans Have No Connection (Direct Or Indirect) To Slavery.

Another non-sequitur. Most Americans today have no direct connection to any practice of the US government in the 19th century. But most people on earth live with the historical fallout of the US in the 19th century. The reservation system for Native Americans? Check. The enormous amount of money poured into the Panama Canal, including Operation: Just Cause? Check. The very existence of any states other than the original thirteen colonies? Check. And once again, this point contradicts point 2. If the US economy was built on slavery, it is clearly part of what made the US such an attractive destination for immigrants.

5. The Historical Precedents Used To Justify The Reparations Claim Do Not Apply, And The Claim Itself Is Based On Race Not Injury.

Now, Horowitz suggests that blacks in America were not harmed by slavery, even though Jim Crow laws, most of the stereotypes of the American black, and much of the ideology of blacks as inferior and distinct from whites on a social level can be directly traced to slavery. Slavery and Jim Crow necessarily impacted the growth of unions in the US, to the point where the average black worker in the North makes more money than the average white worker in the South – the black southern worker is even further behind -- according to studies by Syzmanski and others. Blacks have had immense systematic difficulty exercising the voting franchise in the South as recently as November 2000 ("Hi Jeb!"). The socio-economic impact of slavery is felt by all blacks, not just the direct descendents of slaves. Indeed, Horowitz admits this himself in point 2. How is it that everyone in the US benefits from slavery, but nobody is harmed by it?

Horowitz also asks, "Randall Robinson's book on reparations, The Debt, which is the manifesto of the reparations movement is pointedly sub-titled 'What America Owes To Blacks.' If this is not racism, what is?" Well, Robinson's subtitle isn't racism. Claiming that American blacks, regardless of their socioeconomic status, benefited from slavery while claiming that they could not possibly be impacted negatively by slavery, is. Glad to have cleared that up for you, David.

6. The Reparations Argument Is Based On The Unfounded Claim That All African-American Descendants of Slaves Suffer From The Economic Consequences Of Slavery And Discrimination.

This is not a sixth reason, really, but simply an explicit repetition of an implicit claim in other points. Again, this point runs headlong into point 2 and could thus be tossed our right away. However, just because Horowitz makes such a great punching bag, I'll point out that the reparations argument isn't based on an unfounded claim. Horowitz contends that the rise of the black middle class demonstrates that slavery didn't have a negative impact on black America. This is false.

What the rise of the black middle class demonstrates is that people can surmount difficulties, that Affirmative Action works and that the impact of slavery and the direct fallout of Reconstruction and Jim Crow impacted the South more heavily than it impacted the North. Horowitz has confused the word "unfounded" with the term "disliked by Davd Horowitz."

Further, studies by the Urban Institute show that racism (and modern racist ideologies were born of the slave trade) still impacts the black middle class. Blacks and whites seeded in job interviews, given the same exact suits, resumes, and scripts show that whites are still more likely to get jobs.

7. The Reparations Claim Is One More Attempt To Turn African-Americans Into Victims. It Sends A Damaging Message To The African-American Community.

Horowitz finds common cause with the most reactionary black leaders, like those of the Nation Of Islam, who claim that black capitalism, black separatism and up-by-the-bootstraps hard work, spiced up with anti-Semitism, cultism and the occasional political assassination of one of their own, is all the black community needs.

Horowitz is being disingenuous here as well. He claims to be concerned about the social psychology of the black community, but then explains that reparations would be "extravagant new handout that is only necessary because some blacks can't seem to locate the ladder of opportunity within reach of others." Hardly the rhetoric of a concerned citizen.