Christoph MergersonDec 2, 2022
This is horrifying while also being refreshingly honest and stripped of performance: direct descendants of enslavers patiently explain how they understand that their intergenerational wealth directly descends from genocide, but they oppose reparations in part because they like having money. #BlackMastodon #slavery #history
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/12/01/coles-hill-virginia-slavery-uranium/?fbclid=IwAR27bCrn2R6eSHMJ8lwkRo-zZBiQpFPh8hkxEIBwLXHlya_PvA8laNrISjw&mibextid=Zxz2cZ
Their wealth was built on slavery. Now a new fortune lies underground.

In Virginia, the land still owned by the Coles family could yield billions in uranium. Does any of that wealth belong to the descendants of the enslaved?

The Washington Post
Show threadLarissa
@mergerson @Deglassco
Thanks for sharing this piece. ...This part in that piece is so revealing:
'When a Post reporter pointed out that a larger number of descendants of the first Walter Coles have materially benefited from the enslaved laborers, he [the wealthy descendant of a slaveowner] responded, “Well, they paid for those slaves, back then.”' #reparations
Dec 2, 2022 at 4:53amWeb
Show thread@Lee_in_IowaDec 2, 2022
@Larissa @mergerson Oh. My. God.
Show threadChristoph MergersonDec 2, 2022
@Larissa @Deglassco Apparently if you keep the receipts for purchasing people to exploit as you please, genocide is no big deal.