The demand for reparations is hardly an exceptional example. Such a demand could not be made but in a severely warped public psychology. If my neighbor’s backhoe strays onto my land and in the process unearths a cache of Dahlonega Mint gold coins, and if I take possession of the treasure, I have no grounds on which to sue for damages, even though a scar remains in my dirt. African-Americans are so much better off than their 12th cousins in Gabon that they have no grounds on which to seek reparations. The only thing they could legitimately ask for would be a one-way ticket to Africa, if they regret being American. Reparations for slavery are as illogical as me suing the descendants of rack-renting landlords in Ulster who impelled my ancestors to ship out for the Carolina backcountry.