If you know anything about comedian Amanda Seales, then you know she never shies away from a debate, especially when it comes to the plight of Black Americans. So, after her appearance on Jubilee’s “Surrounded,” it’s easy to see exactly who won that debate.
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“Surrounded” allows one expert to take on 20 opponents in a timed– and supposedly respectful— debate. In Seales’ episode, she battled 20 Black conservatives, and things quickly got heated. The debate represented a clear split within the Black community. Now, we’re breaking down the debate and why Seales dominated it from the start.
Reparations Are Just and Necessary
Starting off with a bang, Seales’ first claim that reparations for the descendants of slavery are “just and necessary” ruffled some conservative feathers. According to the Black radical– supported by several political thinkers and activists over the span of decades– reparations would level the playing field for Black Americans, who she says are still disenfranchised by racism and slavery.
Many of Seales’ opponents claimed simply “cutting a check” to the descendants of slavery “is not going to fix anything.” The comedian fought back emphasizing that reparations have been granted to other ethnic groups who suffered wrongdoing, including Jewish victims of the Holocaust and Japanese Americans after World War II.
Ultimately, she argued that reparations is possible and necessary if America actually wants to right the wrongs of slavery’s past… Not to mention around two-thirds of Black Americans support the idea of reparations, according to Pew Research.
Black-on-Black Crime Comes From ‘Underinvestment, Over-policing’
Black-on-Black crime is often used as a counter argument for conservatives against Black Lives Matter. One debater named Joshua said, “In the Black community, we need to start taking accountability for our actions and stop pointing our fingers.”
Statistics show that people are more likely to be victims of crimes committed by those of their same race, but while the argument that Black-on-Black crime is plaguing the Black community, Seales argued that the cause of this boils down to over policing of Black bodies and the under investment in Black communities, especially in schools.
Systemic Racism Is a Proven Fact
Many Americans, like opponent Matt Nuclear, deny the existence of systemic racism completely. In response, Seales said systemic racism– the discrimination against one group supported by economic, political and social systems to advance another– is backed by experts and legislation.
After slavery, the impact of systemic racism was addressed through “Reconstruction laws.” The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments granted citizenship and voting power to formerly enslaved Black people, which is proof that systemic racism has deep ties to America history.
“It’s in books, and that’s why there have been laws to challenge it,” Seales said. She brought up mass incarceration and redlining– a system where Black people were forced to live in certain neighborhoods– as clear examples of this. “Because this country has never dismantled the culture of racism, they end up still living in practice,” she continued.
Black Conservatism Doesn’t Help the Working Class
In her final claim, Seales argued Black conservatives don’t address inequalities in regards to “fair access to resources… equal access to getting jobs [or] equal pay.” But quickly, the conversation pivoted into a debate on the difference between race and ethnicity and Black music.
To Seales’ point, conservatives have historically been against raising the minimum wage and even supported segregation and Jim Crow laws, according to the American Archive. According to historians, these issues added to the racist system already against Black people.
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