I hear this argument so much.

1) Profiting of a single horrible transaction does not equate to profiting from hundreds of years of forced labor. And long after slavery ended, the wrongs continued and compounded. The benefits for those who committed the injustice did as well.

2) There isn't the same social compact between fellow citizens as there are between those living somewhere else. We're talking about a government's responsibility towards its people, and citizens' responsibilities towards one another.

Martin Luther King said it best, "When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, Black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds."