Singer Lauryn Hill Blames Slavery For Not Paying Her Taxes

[houstonwhodat]

It never ends does it?

http://hiphopwired.com/2013/05/08/la...es-on-slavery/

“I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them,” the New Jersey native told U.S. Magistrate Madeline Cox Arleo.“I had an economic system imposed on me. Someone did the math, and it came to around $600 million. And I sit here before you trying to figure out how to pay a tax debt?”

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by Donger

Severe racial gap?

Maybe one day we'll bridge that gap by having affirmative action, making it illegal to discriminate based on race, have a Black POTUS...

Oh, wait.

Don't be ****ing naive.

[blaise]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

Having a point doesn't mean you win the argument. I'm just saying she's not completely insane for claiming that there is still a severe racial gap in this country. That doesn't mean she doesn't have to follow the same rules.

I'm not talking about her tax evasion as much as I am the question of reparations in general.

Yeah, keep waiting for reparations.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

Having a point doesn't mean you win the argument. I'm just saying she's not completely insane for claiming that there is still a severe racial gap in this country. That doesn't mean she doesn't have to follow the same rules.

I'm not talking about her tax evasion as much as I am the question of reparations in general.

Having a mouth doesn't mean you have a point.

She formed cogent sentences in establishing a complete non-sequitur. That doesn't mean she has a point.

[frankotank]

Originally Posted by the_spatula

cool .jpeg, bro.

yeah...it cracked me up!

[Donger]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

Don't be ****ing naive.

Well, perhaps you'd be willing to actually define what you see as the "severe racial gap" you just professed?

[morphius]

It might be easier to buy into her position if she would have taken her money and moved back to Africa, but for some reason she had a way out of the oppression and stayed here.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

Real easy for us white guys to say "get over it!" I mean, she was born ELEVEN YEARS after the Civil Rights Act. There's no way there was any residual racial bias or struggle! I mean, no one alive in 1975 was racist, right? Certainly no one who worked in government or for schools or in positions of authority or people with hiring power at businesses or judges or cops. The second they ratified the amendment, everyone collectively stopped believing in segregation.

Oh, and New Jersey integrated in the forties. Which means her parents likely attended "colored only" schools for at least a few years. Her grandparents certainly did. So don't say "derp she's middle class from New Jersey, she doesn't have struggles!" Because you just sound ignorant.

think about this: Every single one of our fathers could remember a time when blacks weren't allowed to use the same bathroom. Some of the posters here can. That shit isn't "past us." If you think it is, then you're living in a little white fantasy world.

That said, I think she's a complete c*nt. But being a c*nt doesn't make your points completely invalid.

Purely coincidentally, I went to bed last night thinking about how the Constitution was ratified by a group of people that in no way represented a majority. Blacks, Indians, women, and non-land-owning white men were all subjected to laws they had absolutely no voice in creating or approving. In fact, only six percent of the American population was allowed to vote when the Constitution was ratified and had to silently obey laws thrust upon them with say. That sounds like the very definition of tyranny.

She has a point. It's not a point you like, but it's a real point.

What she is doing is the very epitome of "playing the race card." The fact is that she is required by law to subsidize the government based, in part, on how much income she receives. There is nothing in the history of this country or her personal experiences that alter that legal requirement.

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by Donger

Well, perhaps you'd be willing to actually define what you see as the "severe racial gap" you just professed?

Blacks make up 12% of the US population and 38% of the federal prison population, while whites make up 72.4% of the population and only 34% of the federal prison population. This is after a severe drop over the last decade for incarcerated blacks.

You can read about the advancement here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/us...hows.html?_r=0

Interestingly enough, another article came out on 2.27.13.

This one says that the wealth gap between blacks and whites has nearly tripled in the last 25 years.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...owing/1948899/

Blacks also have more than twice the high school drop out rate than whites.

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d...s/dt10_113.asp

so, you either think these facts are due to blacks being categorically inferior to whites or it is due to a system that is stacked against them.

EDIT: These were the first three things off the top of my head. I'm sure...
voting rates.
Percentage in elected office.
Likelihood of being a victim of violent crime.
Poverty rate.
life span
college degrees
higher degrees

and incalculable other conditions vastly favor whites.

[ChiefaRoo]

[lawrenceRaider]

Originally Posted by Radar Chief

If "interesting" = "crazy", then agreed.

Bumps the same guy who thought Android and Microsoft were the same thing.

[frankotank]

Originally Posted by ChiefaRoo

@ :17

“lern hadn’t paid texas”

you gotta pay your texas.

[SPATCH]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

If you know your history, you know that the 3/5ths was strictly about voting apportionment and not an actual comment on blacks being 3/5 human. Free states wanted slaves to go uncounted while slave states wanted them counted as a full person for electoral college and House of Representative purposes. Furthermore, free blacks, obviously most of whom would be in free states (on a percentage basis, at least) got a 1:1 representation. If we were to try breaking it down using your logic, we'd come to the bizarre claim that the north/free states thought blacks weren't people while the south/slave states thought there were on equal footing with whites.

So either you're an idiot, or you've got an agenda that you consider more important than the truth. Either way, you're in no position to lecture others about knowing their history, so take your shit to DC where it belongs.

I know exactly why the 3/5 compromise came to be. The point remains the same.

Our constitution did not recognize blacks as citizens until the 15th ammendment. Even free blacks in northern states were denied citizenship/right to vote.

The point was that our own constitution was systematically racist up until the 1880s and into the 20th century.

Do not confuse the point.

Originally Posted by Donger

Basis or justification for?

Both.

I see no problem with proactively improving the prospects of African Americans with things like Affirmative Action. A large portion of the black population has had to deal with lack of resources/life chances afforded to them due to lasting affects from our country's racist past.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

Blacks make up 12% of the US population and 38% of the federal prison population.

Whites make up 72.4% of the population and only 34% of the federal prison population. This is after a severe drop over the last decade for incarcerated blacks.

You can read about the advancement here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/us...hows.html?_r=0

Interestingly enough, another article came out on 2.27.13.

It says that the wealth gap between blacks and whites has tripled in the last 25 years.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...owing/1948899/

Blacks also have more than twice the high school drop out rate than whites.

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d...s/dt10_113.asp

so, you either think these facts are due to blacks being categorically inferior to whites or it is due to a system that is stacked against them.

EDIT: These were the first three things off the top of my head. I'm sure...
voting rates.
Percentage in elected office.
Likelihood of being a victim of violent crime.
Poverty rate.
life span
college degrees
higher degrees

and incalculable other conditions vastly favor whites.

I'm aware of all of these. Now, please explain how "the system is stacked against them" and why.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by the_spatula

Both.

I see no problem with proactively improving the prospects of African Americans with things like Affirmative Action. A large portion of the black population has had to deal with lack of resources/life chances afforded to them due to lasting affects from our country's racist past.

I can understand AA to a certain degree, but not reparations.

[Oxford]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

say what you want about that side of her - but her voice on the mic via the R&B avenue - she's breathtaking.

Then all the proceeds from however many albums it takes to pay it off can go to the IRS. Equal representation under the law, ignorance of the law is no excuse, and stupidity is no defense.

Maybe she can get a loan and pay it back right now..... oh wait that would be slavery to a bank.