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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2002)
the BATTll Opinion THE BATTALION 11 Monday, April 8, 2002 to keep doctors lie state. 1999. seven of 1) insurance canienl ts have either ly up, according partment of Ins! the last coti] have been pav claims than in premiums." liam of the N« Association. 1 'e gone throng: primary reason A'SllitS.” loss, a lobbyist Medical Assoc ill money make amends? dove descendants deserve compensation DHARMARAJ INDURTHY he United States has a notably valiant history. Ever since the fearless bellion against the British Jonarchy, the United States has layed the role of the romantic lero in the minds of many Americans. Like a paragon of virtue, America the surgim!prJ as servec * to P romote f he triumph of western factors. »leals over decadent ideologies of the past. But ers need to a ® ervatl i ,1 S American history has been the specter >onsibilitv forW slavery and prejudice. Dating back to the )olice themsebB 0und ' n ^ ot the nation « tllis transgression has Starred the integrity of the United States. Now, a ase is pending demanding reparations from cor- brations that profited from uncompensated bbor. Some degree of restitution is certainly ■eserved to those whose ancestors were so |bhorrently exploited. Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, main plaintiff in he lawsuit, found specific evidence that compa- ince^premiimb j des profited from stolen labor and lodged the v.j. t u j t she states, "These are corporations that ben- fited from stealing people, from stealing labor. nee companic ! responsible writing accoum aid. s say doctors ms ve that tort refc ry awards willb he New York-r, for Justice because their crimes are too awful. Slavery cannot be forgotten as a crime, and its victims cannot be disregarded. The profits of the slaves ought to be returned to the descendants of the laborers, not the per petrators of the crime. Dharmaraj Indurthy is a senior physics major. reparations not necessary f Deadria Farmer- Paellmann, the main Plaintiff in the reparations ^ lawsuit has her way, possibly more than 1,000 American cor porations will be paying restitu tion to 35 million African- American citizens. Farmer- Paellmann is the only named plaintiff in a lawsuit against three major American corporations seeking redress for the descen dants of African slaves who suf fered and toiled on American land for centuries without any compensation. Unfortunately, this found that its font forced breeding, from torture, from com mies benefit. S IN BRIEF iucation monitors le program P) - School distt come under serttf' as Education Ager: i/ system to redut ; n how schools repc' ion. ricts are required I TEA anyd/sc/pfe esults in o studef ;d front the clssi nt to a ication senior dWw' Bitting numerous horrendous acts, and there’s no •eason why they should be able to hold onto assets they acquired through such horrendous acts." No specific dollar amount is sought. Economist Larry Neal estimates a value of H.4 trillion of uncompensated labor before emancipation, and researchers at the University of California at Berkeley append another $1.6 trillion from labor market discrimination sim ply during the years 1929-1969. Can these companies really be asked to offer trillions of dollars in compensation? Probably not, since the govefnment shares blame and any such award would be imprac tical. But such large numbers should compel anyone to take seriously the harms rendered by a racist past. Some critics submit that only the U.S. gov ernment should be at fault since it made legal these abuses. However, the fact is these compa- thesdid commit abuses and profited from slav- e tykegardless of what governments say, abuses /restitution is deserved. This is the same rea ds division mistakes are$®| i for data ii oncerned that s too quick to P'| its aside tive programs. identsarei > apply t 1 ! nocratic .^ning behind other suits lodged against German Japanese companies that supplied Axis Wiies during WWII. What is unprecedented about this case is that factual victims of abuse and slavery are ances- taof the plaintiffs. Awards have been made to survivors of abuse but never to their descendants. Critics say that an award in this case would cts will rem«Jinip]y that anyone with persecuted ancestors je tardies,’hecould file a lawsuit. This is a woefully irrespon- ons of The visible argument. African-Americans have a case “We see atreltobe made for continued socioeconomic disad- v antages as a result of the persecution of their [tocestors. Moreover, the entities responsible for •he abuse still thrive, and without capitalizing on •heir labor theft, they would probably not exist today as successful companies. Most compelling iJMhat active prejudice prevented proper reenu- 1601 pOSI’|meration to slaves in the aftermath of emancipa- _ Blacks i'| tlon - Companies should not escape justice just because the abused died before the fervor of racism could settle down enough to make repara- [dons feasible. It is undeniable that Farmer-Paellmann and •he 35 million other plaintiffs fight a steep, uphill battle. It is equally undeniable that the lawsuit tests on a foundation of validity, bitter though it m ay taste. Hopefully these targeted corporations w ril feel some embarrassment from the publicity and decide to settle the cases. Americans want to ignore the past and move 0n despite the fact that slavery and prejudice left a profound imprint on society that lingers today, home feel that the crime is so dreadful that prop- er restitution cannot be made. While this may be lore likely to a l ed post undet ■nor than ;rnor, according srnatorial apl by the man. \ Richards minorities re| cent of applff ts from a review of records. /hen RepubjJ, i and Rioh one cannot conclude that no restitution appointment j mould be made. Defendants cannot win a case ntage of >d to l7.4 p erC: j s come iat includes' 1 pirants for post 5 been ts. 5 include ?e s, univ md comm® cies. COLLINS EZEANYIM is another indication that the repara tions movement has no intention of slowing down. What Farmer-Paellmann and other reparations activists need to understand is that although slavery was an atrocity that never should have happened, it ended more than a century ago. The pursuit of financial gain for its effects can only deteriorate racial relations in modern- day America. The three corporations named in the suit are Aetna, an insurer, the railroad CSX and FleetBoston, a financial services firm. This is a disappointing action, especially when one consid ers that some of these corporations have expressed sorrow that their company was ever involved in slavery and have taken steps to make amends. They are doing this even though no one working in these companies has ever personally profited from slavery and were born well after the passing of the 13th Amendment. For example, Aetna told USA Today that it has “deep regret” for issuing slave policies. It also claims that it has invested over $34 million in the African-American community. In addition, according to The Associated Press, when Farmer- Paellmann was gathering evidence for the law suit, she claims that Aetna was cooperative in her research. According to USA Today, many of the finan cial, banking, insurance, transportation, manufac turing and publishing companies that might later be named in the suit are some of the most aggressive when it comes to targeting African- Americans for employment and promotion opportunities. And like Aetna, they also give a significant amount to black causes. Thus, instead of suing these corporations, members of the repa rations movement should work in tandem with these corporations to find solutions to problems affecting African-American communities. The reparations activists need to ask them selves what their goals truly are. If the objective is to conduct the greatest corporate shakedown in history, they are certainly on the right track. But if their aim is to truly improve the lives of black Americans, they must find a different method because race relations can only deteriorate with the use of such a divisive tactic. These activists claim they are justified in their actions because the effects of slavery are still felt today. To a certain degree, this statement is true. A common misperception that has survived since the slavery era is that blacks are not intelligent. For many years this ridiculous stereotype pre vented many African-Americans from receiving the education they deserve. Reparations activists say they would like to use the money gained from reparations to fund education programs aimed specifically at African-Americans — but how useful would those education programs be if so many African- Americans see education as something “white” and not to be bothered with? The fight for young black people’s minds is a battle more deserving of reparations activists’ attention. Slavery was a horrific evil that will always remain a stain on the history of this country. But instead of using their ancestors’ suffering as a tool for financial gain, reparations activists should look to their ancestors for motivation to make America a place that treats all of its citizens equally. Despite what people such as Farmer- Paellmann think, this is something that money cannot buy. RUBEN DELUNA* THE BATTALION Collins Ezeanyint is a junior computer engineering major. Virus poses a significant threat to humans COURTNEY WALSH e wom en ated ■ ierrez S irf elding t° le '' j resume I n light of recent estimations that . the West Nile virus — a mosqui- 'Hransmitted dis- [ ease Primarily effecting birds, horses and humans — 1 be reaching Houston this summer, „? ITle alerted, at-risk groups are s read y taking precautions for the o a et y the birds. According to one j tae Houston Zoo’s veterinarians. Dr. 06 Flanagan, the zoo is currently vac- mating its collection of rare and exot- inf ^ t0 P revent them from being 1 ected - However, the public is large- tgnbrant of the virus’ impending e jv Va l ar >d there are no concerted otts geared toward creating aware- l ar Ss an ytime soon. Houston, the fourth th^ est cd y in America, is handling nj SltUat ' on i' 1 much the same man- r '• has handled events in the past, “i a PP roac hing it with the attitude of 6 n °re it, and maybe it will just go away.” The reality of this situa tion, however, makes it quite clear that the West Nile virus is here to stay, and its move ment across the United States is without impediment. The virus’ global history is prolific, beginning with the first documented human case in a Uganda woman in 1937 and the first reported equine cases surfacing in Egypt and France during the 1960s. Today, the virus can be found in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, West and Central Asia and now North America. The virus is a member of the fam ily Flaviviridae and referred to as a flavivirus. It is sometimes catego rized as part of a viral/disease com plex that includes St. Louis encephalitis, due to its extremely similar symptoms and disease mani festations. As with St. Louis encephalitis, the West Nile virus causes a disease condition in which the virus multiplies in the blood stream, crosses the blood/brain barri er and causes inflammation of the brain, impairing nervous system functions and often resulting in death. Theoretically, any vertebrate is capable of contracting the disease, and cases have been documented in squirrels, dogs and bats, although these are typically mild infections that are resolved, unlike those in horses and humans. The reason the West Nile virus is even a threat is three-fold. First, mos quitoes transmit it. The virus has been documented in numerous samples of Culex mosquitoes, which poses a par ticular problem since the culex species is what is referred to as an “over win ter” mosquito. In layman’s terms, this means the species can survive extreme cold, so there is no natural die-off in the population. Second, birds are carri ers of the virus and serve as migrating disease reservoirs. This migration has contributed greatly to the virus’ increased distribution in America. Thirdly, until just recently, there has been no vaccine available. The current vaccine is less than a year old, designed specifically for horses, and there are doubts as to its effectiveness. It seems the Houston Zoo is using this vaccine to protect its bird collection as an almost last ditch effort. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “All residents of areas where virus activity has been identified are at the risk of getting West Nile Encephalitis.” While the chance of human infection result ing in death is relatively small, it is still enough of a concern that the United States has set up ArboNET, an enhanced human and animal surveil lance system for monitoring the geo graphical spread of West Nile virus and areas at increased risk for human infection. The program was imple mented in Washington D.C. in 2000 and is now available in all 50 states. Granted, there are a limited number of ways that Houston, or any other city, town or state, can prevent the spread of this virus; however, the city is leaving itself as vulnerable as New York was in 1999. With the recent finding of a dead cardinal in Baton Rouge, La., one would think Houston would begin implementing its own surveillance system in addition to ArboNET to better protect its people. The only way the public will be pre pared is through public education and awareness, not by following the exam ple set by the city of closing its eyes. It is a sad state of affairs when the birds at the city zoo are the recipients of most of the preventative action. Courtney Walsh is a senior biomedical science and English major.
