Every time I hear someone talking about reparations, I wonder why we don't do the logical thing to fund initiatives: ANYONE who inherited wealth derived from human slavery must pay a one-time flat tax of 2/5 the proportion of their personal wealth derived from inheritance &...

&/or a perpetual 3/5 inheritance tax on wealth derived from the labor of enslaved persons.

Similarly, any businesses built on the backs of past slavery must face a 3/5 tax in perpetuity on all profits, prior to any disbursement of shareholder dividends or executive bonuses.

Note: the portion of wealth derived from the enslavement of humans is not SOLELY based on the net worth of slave-owning ancestors, but on wealth subsequently derived from investment of that inheritance.

This is not a penalty of attainder, but, shall we say, one of retroactive forfeiture to compensate the nation for the additional costs placed on society by the choices their ancestors made by becoming owners of slaves.

The Trump administration has clearly shown that this type of demand for reimbursement is lawful under their attempts at enforcing MMSEA section 111, demanding reimbursement of moneys from the survivors of individuals who were exposed to Asbestos -

In some cases, CMS attempted to recover thousands of dollars 20 years after an individual's death, even if medicare never paid a penny for that individual's treatment for asbestos-related illness, solely based on if the person received compensation for exposure.

If that sort of reimbursement can be considered a legit demand today, it follows that a full accounting of the costs associated with the fallout from negligence of past slaveowners to restore the final 2/5 of personhood to their slaves is needed,

And that the results of that evaluation should provide substantial justification providing for funds to be recouped from wealth derived from slavery.

If you can demand money from, or in some cases, even file liens against the homes of a decedent's heirs decades later - even though they were a victim of a tort that may have led to their death -

you should be able to do the same to recoup money from those whose ancestors' negligence and refusal to provide equal access to opportunity for those who they had enslaved and their descendants, the fallout from which has undoubtably reached trillions of dollars.

That wealth - and the wealth that has grown from it -compounded over time, has only served to reinforce the inequalities in modern American society.

It's time for that wealth to start solving the problems and equalizing EVERYONE'S American experience.

Happy to hear thoughts. I know there's more I haven't addressed, but from a logical perspective it seems sound.

(though, of course, the law and logic do not always find a common meeting place :\\ )