The problem with this line of thinking is twofold.

1) First, who decides when the "proverbial scales" are balanced? We can't count on the Black people of today to tell us this. Because, like everyone else, once they perceive an advantage, they're not going to let go of it. That's just human nature.

Which brings me to the other problem. Which I'm sure you've heard often enough.

2) I never owned slaves. You were never a slave. Yet here you are, demanding reparations for a wrong you never suffered, for an institution that died out over 160 years ago.

If I had ancestors that fought to emancipate slaves in the Civil War, do I get to claim benefits, too?