I’m not a European, so you’re wrong there bud.
as a white South African,
I think you may be mistaken as to the nature of ancestry, if you think Europeans are guilty for the crimes committed upon Black Africans but your ancestors are not.
But more importantly, my identity is with the people I share a culture with. I’m first a South African, then a bunch of stuff, and one thing down the line is white.
Is that privilege afforded to Europeans?
You’re right that I’m the beneficiary of a racist system. The difference is that I have no issues with affirmative action or redress. You criticising me for being white and for decolonisation is like when people criticise Bernie Sanders for being rich and supporting higher taxes. It’s a stupid, reductive non-starter of an argument.
My point isn't that you're 'wrong' for being for 'decolonization', my point is that this argument is predicated on the concept of ancestral guilt. It's not that Pierre of France, scrubbing toilets in a dingy little restaurant, owes reparations to the countless nations that France has wronged in the past. Modern democratic governments are by and of their people - when demanding blood money from France, you are demanding blood money from Pierre. Insofar as Pierre has a higher standard of living and should assist others to reach his living status, I believe it is appropriate to demand money with that goal in mind. Insofar as the idea that Pierre, born in 1990 and who has never left his little corner of the country, has some form of ancestral debt to be paid, I believe it is inappropriate.
In other words, I think you are (broadly speaking) right, but for the wrong reasons.
As for making amends = helping, most people would disagree. That’s a dumb assertion.
I don't think most people would disagree, but it's semantics in the end.
