> It doesn't really have anything to do with "guilt", it has to do with the fact that white middle class intergenerational wealth.

Can't you recognize that statements like this are propagating the same insensitivity you are intending to correct?

My grandparents were white. They were Argentine and moved to Las Vegas in the 1950s to clean toilets in hotel rooms (And did so for 40 years) so they could raise a family in something resembling a middle class lifestyle. You can't throw a stone very far in the USA and not hear the same or a similar story, at least in my experience. Someone moved here starting with nothing, worked hard, and was able to dramatically increase their standing in life. Integenerational wealth is not common, in fact it is exceedingly rare.

Don't really care that it's insensitive, nor about the travails of your grandparents

I can't imagine how you've managed to have such an abysmal take on this. Pointing out facts about oppression is ... insensitive? Are you trying to erase history because it makes you feel uncomfortable? No one cares about your anecdote.

The fact that you see attempts to right a horrific, multi-century wrong committed against an entire race of people as a personal slight against you says a lot about how you see the world.

If your grandparents achieved a middle-class life in 1950's America, they owned a home. That home is a form of intergenerational wealth. If they are still alive, your parents or you or another relative will likely get a windfall someday of probably six-figures.

Which means that windfall will at the least double the average retirement savings of a median millennial or GenX person.

I'd like to see more redistribution, but lump sum payments to 18yos are not going to be spent thoughtfully.

just look at federal student loan situation and you will see how good 18 y.o. are at managing money

It's an extreme simplification; the idea is called "Baby Bonds" and it was part of Corey Booker's platform. It's not a simple cash payment but a savings account with funds that can be withdrawn only for education, job training, first home purchase, or starting a business.

By “nonwhite” you mean “black.” Be clear about who you’re talking about.

But if that’s the principle—why does that justify discrimination against Asians immigrants whose ancestors had no property in America, but far less valuable property in third world countries?

If we are going back to people’s grandparents, a house in even a redlined neighborhood in America is much more valuable than a large house in my dad’s village in Bangladesh. Even a segregated American school is better than the village school he attended which had no walls.

> By “nonwhite” you mean “black.”

Ah, the First Nations are forgotten again... But anyways I mean "nonwhite"; inclusion in the programs that generated white wealth were literally how the ever-evolving definition of "whiteness" was expanded.

intergenerational wealth through housing, let me tell you about that. My Grandparents owned two home most of the proceeds form their sale went to paying off their debt. You see as life expectancy's have gone up as has medical cost only much more. Sure my grandfather lived till his late 80 when his father and grandfather died to hearth attacks in their early sixties but the various surgeries and treatment for my grandparent ate all but a fraction of that. My parent spent more money taking care of my grandfather and grandmother in their final years than they inherited, and quiet possibly will have to do it again when my last remaining grandparent is no longer able to afford her retirement home and medication after the proceeds of her house sale run out. And I will have to do it for my parent when their turn comes. There isn't some real-estate driven wealth transfer for the middle class anymore. Its transferred to hospitals and pharmaceutical manufacturers.