Rating: 
Summary: Irresponsible!
Review: Irresponsible is how to classify this book. Perhaps the author has forgotten that after the Civil War, President Lincoln said the 350,000 lives lost in the War were in payment for our country's past sins of slavery. There certainly isn't enough money in the world to pay reparations for every act of discrimination or prejudice suffered, but complaining and demanding money is not the answer, to do so is a disservice to African Americans. A better approach is to encourage the model for success that has been most effective for immigrants and citizens past and present: education, hard work, self-reliance, and responsibility. There are many good books to read -- this isn't one of them.
Rating: 
Summary: Open your minds; is THIS America? is the point
Review: Randall Robinson's thoughtful, considered, sensitive, and moving book (-length essay) invites America to give conscious (make that SELF-conscious), deliberate, and objective thought to the MANY issues that he raises and points that he makes.I am convinced that no thoughtful person who holds democratic ideals in their heart of hearts--and who has read the book--can turn a single page without realizing the depths of dishonor that America has heaped on itself with its past (and, yes, as the author makes clear, continuing) dehumanization of Africans and their American-born descendants; by writing history with blinders on; by building monuments with a color filter; by cooking the accounting books; and a dozen other historic slaps in the face that the author mentions. Robinson's point is that America must recognize and honor (out loud and in public) the history and contributions of its African descended citizens; recognize, confess, and repent its culpability for the state of race in the United States. He makes no outlandish claims and demands no outlandish demands. What is America's duty and obligation to all of its citizens, and to itself? Robinson book is that question. Our future is the answer.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of Anecdotes, Little Else!!
Review: Mr Robinson could have helped blacks much better by explaining how he was able to overcome his impovished childhood than to endlessly drone on about how slavery has effected every black in America today. To simply state over and over again that slavery caused children in 1975 Boston or a 9 year old in 1999 Virginia to fail in school is utter nonsense. We, the parents of our black children, as my parents taught my siblings and me, are responsible for our own education. If slaves risked being killed by their owners if they were caught reading, still perservered, then no matter how bad public or private schools are today, children can still learn if they and their parents put in the effort! Mr Robinson decries how the US and the IMF has destroyed African nations by subjecting them to conditions that are not favoable to them when they accept developmental loans. Yet, he wants American blacks to demand and accept money from the US government to "educate" us on how slavery has robbed us of our history. How was Mr Robinson able to learn the "facts" about slavery, the great African empires and the relatively recent history on Amercian slavery? Can not the rest of us learn without handouts from Uncle Sam? Finally, Mr. Robinson left out one of the most important factors of black helplessness. That is we, me too until Bill Clinton took office, continue to elect public leaders that make promise after promise with no accountiblity to us at all. The Democrats know that they have the black vote and the Republicans know they can never get it. So, why should either give a damn! The debt may have been created by others, but we have perpetuated it ourselves!
Rating:
Summary: A Man Lost in the Past
Review: Randall Robinson is a man lost in the past. His ideas show nothing more than black racism at its highest. I don't think I've ever read anything that shows such bigotry in my life. The very things he denounces, he is guilty of himself. This book should get a zero star rating because it has no redeemable qualities and offends a lot of people, including me. If you hate bigotry, prejudice, and racism, this book is not for you. I am sorry that I spent my hard-earned money on this trash.
Rating:
Summary: I am offended!
Review: I am a white teenager in America, and I beleive that America is everybody! If we keep saying "Blacks do this...." or "Whites do that..." we will never be able to live together in peace. Mr. Robinson says: 'To pose the question, to invite the debate. To cause America to compensate, after three and a half centuries, for a long-avoided wrong.' I do not beleive that America 'owes' black people anything. I am the most unprejudice person in the world and I enjoy people from all walks of life. When I see a person on the street I don't notice what color they are, I notice if they are good people. I think this is how most people in America are. This morning I saw Mr. Robinson on a news program. He looked absolutely rediculous! Nobody in America thinks this way anymore! I didn't have a slave, I didn't beat a slave, I don't beleive having a slave is right. I wish that black people would stop acting like it was my generation or the generation before that hurt them. Mr. Robinson says in his book: 'This book is about the great still-unfolding massive crime of official and unofficial America against Africa, African slaves, and their descendants in America.' America is not against Africa or African slaves. There is not 'official and unofficial crime' being committed against blacks. People should stop refering to themselves as blacks or whites and just call themselves Americans.
Rating: 
Summary: THE DEBT NEVER PAID AND PERHAPS NEVER WILL
Review: For over 200 years America held a people in captivity and exploited their labor. Add in another 120 years of semi-slavery (sharecropping) and legalized segregation and you will once again find exploitation. America owes Blacks a debt which has never been repaid. Robinson unapologetically feels the payment is past overdue and needs resolution. Whether you agree or disagree with the author, the fact of the matter is that he raises a question which deserves consideration. America's economy was built on the backs of exploited labor. The descendents of the labor have received nothing and suffer from the consequences of the past exploitive policies. Are they deserving of reparations as the Jews (for the death camps), Japanese (for the unjust internment in American "concentration" camps) and other groups who have suffered similar indignities and exploitation? The answer to his question raises the ire of anyone who reads the book but it forces all of us to come to grips with an era in history which we wish to ignore and bury. Such a pretense will eventually explode unless something is done. Robinson gives his take on what America must do to correct its problem. Although Robinson lays out a decent argument, he treats African-Americans as a totally lost people who have no sense of connection with their African heritage. He goes to far in his assertion. He is highly naive in thinking America would even take up the question of reparations for slavery. After all America doesn't have the moral fortitude to do what is right and just unless there is a price tag on it. The Debt is a valuable book for three reasons. One, it raises a question never seriously considered by Blacks or whites in America. Two, it clearly examines the roots of the problem. Three, it opens the door for serious debate and discussion perhaps culminating in a viable solution. Robinson is not a Black "racist" or trouble maker. His voice needs to be heard on this question. Until African-Americans take it seriously then his words may be in vain however the fact of him raising them makes all the difference.
Rating:
Summary: True. But, still, too difficult to accept.
Review: This book was a passionate, emic approach to the issues of racism and the resulting inequalities. There are many who will blast this piece as a slap in the faces of Americans who were weaned on phrases like "pull your own weight" or "by your own bootstraps." And it will be very difficult reading for those still in denial about the racist history of the United States. But, I think Mr. Robinson knew that when he wrote this book. I'm sure he understood that validating the claim that African Americans were such a wronged population would produce cognitive dissonance, especially among White Americans. So, dissociation from the problem is necessary answer to this in order to protect self-interests, or for that matter self-esteem among those who were historically in power. People who take things personally, will personally think that they "personally" are being blamed, and will try to refute anything that seems to attack them. For this country to succeed beyond the year 2000, authors like Robinson need to be heard when attemtping to examine socio-cultural issues in the United States, even if they are unattractive and burdensome.
Rating:
Summary: I Understand, if not agree
Review: I can understand a lot of what the brother is saying in this book. He does a good job of articulating the pain of a man who grew up with the scars of segregation (such as the story of his surprise at the kindness of the white insuranceman in the 1950s). Modern young Black readers may find it hard to understand this example of the dehumanizing process of Jim Crow. He (Robinson) also deserves kudos for articulating the plight of the poverty-sricken mother whose self-esteem was too low ot confront the teachers who were miseducating her child. However, I disagree that repirations will solve anything. If your self-esteem is crushed by social conditioning and you recieve reparations, all that will make you is a person with low self-esteem with a little more money. I agree with Dr. Richard Williams who said "They Stole it But WE Must Return It." The wise among us must share their wisdom with our confused youth and above all, fathers and real men must get back to their families where they belong!
Rating:
Summary: Still Awaiting Payment For Services Rendered
Review: "The Debt" is such a brilliant and powerful book, especially due to the fact that Mr. Robinson doesn't reduce reparations down to mere stoic bean-counting. He is passionately invested in this conversation; he weaves anecotes that reflect and solidify feelings and notions that I have had for year but have never truly been able to verbalize! Obviously, we as Black Americans can not wait for white Americans to be fervent enough about admitting their role in slavery IN DETAIL and being accountable for it. The problem that I fear is that there aren't enough Black people who REALLY believe that we DESERVE reparations, but I'll put it this way; many Black people (including myself) are living from check to check. Imagine if one of those checks don't show up, either it's not mailed to your home or it's not deposited into your bank account. And imagine how expedient you would be to rectify that situation IMMEDIATELY. I can't imagine that they're many of us who can afford to say "Oh, it doesn't matter if I get paid or not for the work I've already done." We need to feel that same urgency for reparations. America will NEVER be able to pay Black people for the lasting and horrific psychic trauma it has wrought and continues to perpetrate onto the Black people of its society, BUT the very least we can do is hold this country (and others - reparations is definitely a GLOBAL issue) accountable for the COST OF OUR LABOR!
Rating:
Summary: Pull your own weight.
Review: In "The Debt," Randall Robinson (who's the proud founder of an organization called TransAfrica, which aggressively helped to "liberate" South Africa into the homocide capital of the world) sets out to make a convincing case for futher reparations for blacks. Why you ask? Well, Robinson feels that the large socio-economic gap that plainly exists between whites and blacks can be linked to slavery. Robinson feels that affirmative action "isn't enough" to repay "The Debt" that whites still owe blacks by virtue of 246 years of slavery. After all, Robinson claims, reparations were paid to other oppressed groups during this century. Germany paid reparations to Holocaust survivors and to the state of Israel. Therefore, Robinson concludes, "The Debt" that whites owe blacks must be a subsidy tantamount to the Marshall Plan. Unfortunately, while tallying this "Debt," Robinson mislaid his calculator. The black/white income ratio stabilized at 57% in the early 1970's, as federal and state income taxes are progressive, blacks may be assumed to pay about 50% in taxes for every dollar whites do. So blacks, at 12% of the population, collectively pay about 6% of the cost of welfare, or roughly $13 billion, for a net-annual white-to-black transfer of roughly $75 billion. This is in effect a Marshall Plan for the "inner cities" every three years. I'm guessing Randall Robinson was only serious about the "effort" part of the Marshall Plan, which still doesn't make any sense because.... Most whites in the US didn't even own slaves. According to Peter Parish's "Slavery: History and Historians," the first US census conducted in 1790 concluded that the number of slaveowning families in America was as high as 25 percent, but by 1850, the number declined to 10 percent. Even in the South, less than one third of white families owned slaves on the eve of the Civil War. Can we trace the ancestors of these slaveowning familes Randall? Do we even need to? There's an obvious flaw in Randall Robinson's argument that other reviewers seemed to have overlooked. While it's true that slaves were an involuntary minority, American blacks have been free to emigrate for five generations. During the 19th century and the earlier parts of the 20th, Marcus Garvey's "Back to Africa" movement urged by both white nativists and black nationalists had few takers. Judging by their behavior, contemporary American blacks are where they are voluntarily. Perhaps it's only because they've just been "waiting" for their reparations? Randall Robinson's "The Debt": High on zealotry, low on plausibility.
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