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A man asked if all poor Americans should get reparations. Trevor Noah's response is perfect.

A man asked if all poor Americans should get reparations. Trevor Noah's response is perfect.

Trevor Noah has a brilliant way of breaking down complex or challenging ideas into easily digestible nuggets.

If you haven’t seen Trevor Noah’s "Between the Scenes" clips, you’re missing out. During breaks in his late night talk show, Noah chats with the audience about all kinds of topics and then shares these candid conversations on Facebook. For Trevor Noah fans, these tidbits have become every bit as beloved as his comedy show—perhaps even more so, as they showcase Noah’s thoughtful intelligence in an unscripted way.

Take, for instance, his recent "Between the Scenes" clip where he answered a question from the audience about reparations.


An audience member asked, “Do you think reparations should go to just one group or should it target people in the same kind of, like, socio-economic group?"

“That’s an interesting question,” Noah responded. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, there are white people that have been disenfranchised lately,” the man explained.

Recently is the key,” said Noah interjected.

“Well, the country deindustrialized, right?" replied the man. "So, a lot of people in manufacturing jobs and stuff, their areas were affected.”

The audience member is referencing an argument that comes up a lot in conversations about reparations—that many white Americans are currently struggling economically because of the changes in the economy and industrialization, so shouldn't they also receive some kind of compensation from the government?

Noah explained what reparations actually means, and why it doesn’t have anything to do with the current economic woes of middle America.

“To your question, I think you have to understand what the word ‘reparations’ means first," said Noah. "You are repairing something that’s broken. You are paying for something you were supposed to pay for. I’m not saying that there aren’t people living in America today who are suffering and are going through pain and strife because of what’s happening when it comes to machines taking jobs, factories becoming industrialized, etc. But reparations is a specific conversation about a specific time in America. And that is Black people were slaves, you know what I mean?"

He touched on the common "What about the Irish?" argument: "I have even heard people say like, ‘Oh but there were some of the Irish who were indentured.’  Slavery—look at the numbers, look at the time, look at the level of work. You could not work toward your freedom. For most Black people in America this was a time when you lived and died as a slave. And so that’s what reparations is about."

"And so I hear what you’re saying," Noah told the man who asked the question, "but I think that’s a completely separate conversation that needs to be had about the now. Because if you are not careful what you then do is combine everybody’s suffering into the same bowl and you make it seem all injustices have the same weighting, and they don’t. Just like crimes, you know, theft isn’t the same as murder. We don’t try them the same way.”

Noah empathized with people's economic strife, but explained how it can’t be compared to the centuries of injustices heaped upon Black Americans.

“I feel for anybody who is suffering because I know what it’s like to be poor,” continued Noah. “I know what it’s like to suffer. I didn’t come from a wealthy family. We struggled when I was growing up. But I also understand that there are levels of that suffering, you know?”

Noah said he understands why the idea of white privilege is hard for some White Americans to grasp. “You go, ‘White privilege,’ and a person goes, ‘I’m poor and I’m White. Where’s the privilege?’ White people are like, ‘I wish I could activate my white privilege. I wish I could do it right now. White privilege! Give me something!’ I get that. I get that, trust me, I get it. It is hard to accept that you have benefits because of the color of your skin if you cannot see the benefits that you have.”

Instead of thinking in terms of privilege, Noah said he tells people to think of how a handicap works in golf. “In golf they acknowledge that you are in a position where you need so many advantages to be competitive in the game, right? So what they say is, ‘You have a handicap of 15.’ So that means you’re going to be hitting from this tee and you get more chances to get the ball in because we understand the position you’re in.”

Then he brought it all together to show why the idea of reparation for Black Americans is worth consideration:

“If you’re a Black person in America, from slavery, from day one, the number of injustices that have held Black people back in America amounts to an insurmountable…like, you look at Black people’s freedom, you look at Black people’s land. Just land alone. The amount of wealth you can acquire over time if you own land is exponential. Because you have the land. You have the fact that you can borrow based on the land. You have the fact that you can use the money that you have borrowed to grow more wealth. You can use it to grow your family’s wealth. Just taking that way from Black people alone is crippling them. And so you combine that with slavery, and then you look at Jim Crow laws. You didn’t let Black people in America live in the areas they wanted to live in. They couldn’t get loans from the banks that they wanted to get loans from. And then on top of that when they started getting the loans from American banks, American banks were found to be giving them higher interest rates when in fact they were the same risk as many of the other races that they were given loans to."

He also pointed to the fact that reparations isn't an issue for white folks to be debating, but something for Black Americans to work out with the U.S. government.

"So when you combine all of those things, I think it’s safe to say that Black Americans have a conversation they need to be having with the United States. Doesn’t involve me. Doesn’t involve white people. It’s like, ‘Yo, American government, meet the Black people.’ That’s it. Have that conversation.”

Thanks, Trevor, for once again breaking down a controversial issue in a way that helps us all understand it better. (For a deeper dive into reparations, read Ta-Nehisi Coates' op-ed in The Atlantic, "The Case for Reparations.")

Watch Noah's "Between the Scenes" clip here:

Reparations & White Privilege

For anyone confused about reparations:

Posted by Between the Scenes on Monday, March 25, 2019
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Celebrate International Women's Day with these stunning photos of female leaders changing the world

The portraits, taken by acclaimed photographer Nigel Barker, are part of CARE's "She Leads the World" campaign.

Images provided by CARE

Kadiatu (left), Zainab (right)

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Women are breaking down barriers every day. They are transforming the world into a more equitable place with every scientific discovery, athletic feat, social justice reform, artistic endeavor, leadership role, and community outreach project.

And while these breakthroughs are happening all the time, International Women’s Day (Mar 8) is when we can all take time to acknowledge the collective progress, and celebrate how “She Leads the World.

This year, CARE, a leading global humanitarian organization dedicated to empowering women and girls, is celebrating International Women’s Day through the power of portraiture. CARE partnered with high-profile photographer Nigel Barker, best known for his work on “America’s Next Top Model,” to capture breathtaking images of seven remarkable women who have prevailed over countless obstacles to become leaders within their communities.

“Mabinty, Isatu, Adama, and Kadiatu represent so many women around the world overcoming incredible obstacles to lead their communities,” said Michelle Nunn, President and CEO of CARE USA.

Barker’s bold portraits, as part of CARE’s “She Leads The World” campaign, not only elevate each woman’s story, but also shine a spotlight on how CARE programs helped them get to where they are today.

About the women:

Mabinty

international womens day, care.org

Mabinty is a businesswoman and a member of a CARE savings circle along with a group of other women. She buys and sells groundnuts, rice, and fuel. She and her husband have created such a successful enterprise that Mabinty volunteers her time as a teacher in the local school. She was the first woman to teach there, prompting a second woman to do so. Her fellow teachers and students look up to Mabinty as the leader and educator she is.

Kadiatu

international womens day, care.org

Kadiatu supports herself through a small business selling food. She also volunteers at a health clinic in the neighboring village where she is a nursing student. She tests for malaria, works with infants, and joins her fellow staff in dancing and singing with the women who visit the clinic. She aspires to become a full-time nurse so she can treat and cure people. Today, she leads by example and with ambition.

Isatu

international womens day, care.org

When Isatu was three months pregnant, her husband left her, seeking his fortune in the gold mines. Now Isatu makes her own way, buying and selling food to support her four children. It is a struggle, but Isatu is determined to be a part of her community and a provider for her kids. A single mother of four is nothing if not a leader.

Zainab

international womens day, care.org

Zainab is the Nurse in Charge at the Maternal Child Health Outpost in her community. She is the only nurse in the surrounding area, and so she is responsible for the pre-natal health of the community’s mothers-to-be and for the safe delivery of their babies. In a country with one of the world’s worst maternal death rates, Zainab has not lost a single mother. The community rallies around Zainab and the work she does. She describes the women who visit the clinic as sisters. That feeling is clearly mutual.

Adama

international womens day, care.org

Adama is something few women are - a kehkeh driver. A kehkeh is a three-wheeled motorcycle taxi, known elsewhere as a tuktuk. Working in the Kissy neighborhood of Freetown, Adama is the primary breadwinner for her family, including her son. She keeps her riders safe in other ways, too, by selling condoms. With HIV threatening to increase its spread, this is a vital service to the community.

Ya Yaebo

international womens day, care.org

“Ya” is a term of respect for older, accomplished women. Ya Yaebo has earned that title as head of her local farmers group. But there is much more than that. She started as a Village Savings and Loan Association member and began putting money into her business. There is the groundnut farm, her team buys and sells rice, and own their own oil processing machine. They even supply seeds to the Ministry of Agriculture. She has used her success to the benefit of people in need in her community and is a vocal advocate for educating girls, not having gone beyond grade seven herself.

On Monday, March 4, CARE will host an exhibition of photography in New York City featuring these portraits, kicking off the multi-day “She Leads the World Campaign.

Learn more, view the portraits, and join CARE’s International Women's Day "She Leads the World" celebration at CARE.org/sheleads.


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