comment: >
  
  I wonder if you need to prove the descended from slaves part, or can you just claim it.  "Master didn't let us keep the birth certificates".
context: /u/ICuriosityCatI (OP) has awarded 1 delta(s) in this post.
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  ^Delta System Explained ^| ^Deltaboards >
  
  There is a psychological concept called anchoring.  The short version is that whoever throws out the first number in a negotiation sets the basic parameters for that negotiation and greatly influences the final number that is agreed upon.
  It is very unlikely that they truly expect $5M/person, but by setting the initial bar that high, they can potentially get a higher final figure than if they had gone in with a more reasonable number off the bat.  Now, this could backfire and they could get dismissed entirely for being unreasonable, but that is a risk you take in negotiations.
  So, it isn't whacky if this is part of a broader negotiation strategy. >
  
  This is a fair point and I was thinking about this. But I don't think in this case proposing a wildly high figure in hopes of negotiating down to a lower figure but one that's higher than it would have been is a great strategy. 
  But !delta because it could be a strategy even if it does backfire (which I think is likely, especially given how much power conservatives have right now.) >
  
  Time will tell if it is a good strategy or not.
  It does influence the conversation, though.  Pretty much everyone in the negotiating room will be basing their offers on how much less than $5M they are, and that is the power of anchoring.  It becomes the baseline from which you determine the reasonableness of your counter. >
  
  Does that approach usually work though? If I'm negotiating with somebody and I throw out a ridiculous number and then a really high but not as ridiculous one do they say "well compared to the ridiculous one..." Or do they say "this guy is full of crap and I don't trust him, no deal."
  The psychology is very interesting to me, but I'm wondering how often it really works. >
  
  The further from “reasonable” your anchor the less likely it is to work.  I put reasonable in quotes because often (but certainly in this scenario) what is reasonable is very subjective.  However, my sense is that the 5mil will prove this be a mistake in hindsight because I think it will make independent people less likely to support this and give catalyzing talking points to the right. >
  
  Indeed. You don't even have to be right-wing to think that reparations is an asinine concept.
  I suppose those of us who are mixed-race are going to pay themselves? What about First Nations Americans? They were dealt an even worse hand.
  In all seriousness, I worry that the average Joe will read these headlines and surmise that "Black people think that we should have to pay them five million dollars for being Black."
  This seems to be an effective way to both shut down conversation and create actual racists. >
  
  
  I suppose those of us who are mixed-race are going to pay themselves? What about First Nations Americans? They were dealt an even worse hand.
  
  Raises the question, just who is going to pay for it?
  Do taxes get increased across the board? Is your tax burden increased because you're "White"? Or will there be a register of folks who's ancestors owned slaves who need to pay for this? >
  
  The vast majority of white people are not descended from slave owners. My ancestors were poor potato farmers who didn’t come to the US until after the civil war. Should I have to pay, not only for sins that I did not commit but also for sins that nobody I was even related to committed? This just seems ridiculous to me that people who were never slave owners should give people who were never slaves reparations for something that happened hundreds of years before either of us were born. That just seems like a more drawn out North Korean 3 generations of punishment abuses of power. >
  
  Hahaha, no. 
  You can qualify by any two. 
  Imagine how many people there are who
  
  descended from slaves
  have a drug conviction
  
  Gotta be a half-million people.