I found many things wrong with what Mr. Horowitz had to say in his April 12 “advertisement,” “Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Slavery is a Bad Idea – and Racist Too,” but there was not enough room to enumerate them.

For section two: Mr. Horowitz stated, “There is No Single Group That Benefited Exclusively From Slavery.”

This statement just makes no sense.

The export of cotton in the South from America to the surrounding countries made America one of the more wealthy nations, not in its area, but THE WORLD.

And Mr. Horowitz’s “statistic” about our GNP per capita income MIGHT be true today, but subtract the minority of blacks who are insanely wealthy, and that “grand” statistic isn’t so grand.

Also, what about when the Atlantic slave trade was thriving back almost 500 years ago?

Were we blacks so rich then? I don’t think so.

We were considered the same as CATTLE, and the fates that many Africans suffered on the trip to America and while in America were MUCH less desirable than maybe living off the land of the African continent.

Maybe Mr. Horowitz forgot to mention that more Africans died coming over on the slave ships than made it.

And still more died from being unfamiliar to an alien environment thus leaving them with no protection against the common disease in “The New World.”

But that’s not important. We blacks “got” our cable, we “got” our football, we “got” our basketball, we “got” our BET, we “got” our Denzel Washingtons, our Michael Jordans, our Emmit Smiths, our Halle Berrys.

I guess we should be happy that we got our “little bit.”

After all, since white anglo-saxons “saved” us from ourselves, I guess we should be glad they came at all.

For section eight: Blacks have been “Already Paid” reparations?

Welfare is not a paid reparation, and neither is “racial preferences (in contracts, job placements and educational admissions).”

This “racial preference” you claim, Mr. Horowitz, says that you have to be fair in your hiring practices, that the best QUALIFIED person be given the duty, NOT just the best COLOR.

But companies have even stepped around your “racial preference” for years.

So is it really fair?

What about our communities?

Why aren’t they being built up?

True, some of that maintenance is the homeowners, but can you explain rundown streets?

Can you explain poor lighting in public places?

Perhaps you could explain poor plumbing in a certain “section” of town?

Can you explain why it’s SO much easier to get a loan for cars out of our salary base than it is to get a loan to fix up houses?

Can you explain why there is a highway in Kansas City that runs straight through the lower-income areas of Kansas City?

Can you explain similar practices in cities all around the United States?

WHERE are the reparations?

Like I said, there are many things wrong with what Mr. Horowitz wrote, but there was just not enough room to speak about them all.

Daniel Chamberlain

Freshman

Computer science