Why reparations?

"Somehow we need to be able to present this history as our history, and to help people understand that you're not responsible for the past, I'm not responsible for what my ancestors did, but I'm obligated to the present, to do what I can to make things better." [Source]

The following list of articles is a subsection of Racial injustice in American history, which is Part 6 in my series "On microaggressions and racial issues, particularly in the lifestyle: A resource for white people."

See also: “Racism and housing,” here.

• The U.S. Owes $350,000 To Every Black American, uploaded Feb. 2, 2022 to the AJ+ channel on YouTube (12 minutes, includes a computer-generated transcript). *(This video presents the history of reparations in America, coupled with a solid overview of why reparations are considered necessary. In addition, it provides an international perspective, with background on European nations that participated in the enslavement of African people and the compensation paid to European enslavers {but not to their formerly enslaved workers}. At 9:35, the video summarizes the CARICOM Ten Point Plan for Reparatory Justice).

• 7 Key Questions in the U.S. Slavery Reparations Debate, by Dave Roos, How Stuff Works, updated Jun 17, 2022.

  RELATED: California's reparations task force releases its report. (This post links to the report by the California reparations task force, which is referenced in Roos' article. In addition to providing examples of what can be done, it demonstrates clearly why reparations should be made.)

• California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans - Interim Report, by the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, June 2022. (The table of contents (pages i-iii) includes Political Disenfranchisement; Housing Segregation; Separate and Unequal Education; Racism in Environment and Infrastructure; Pathologizing Black Families; Control over Creative, Cultural & Intellectual Life; Stolen Labor and Hindered Opportunity; An Unjust Legal System; Mental and Physical Harm and Neglect; and The Wealth Gap.)
  The California Reparations Report, final version, issued Jun. 29, 2023.

• In 1912, This Georgia County Drove Out Every Black Resident, by Becky Little, History.com, May 23, 2018.
  For more information: 1912 racial conflict in Forsyth County, Georgia, a Wikipedia entry.

• How to pay reparations to African Americans without spiking inflation, a CNBC video, Feb. 8, 230207. (An interview with William Darity and Kirsten Mullen, co-authors of “From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century”.)

• Association Between Racial Wealth Inequities and Racial Disparities in Longevity Among US Adults and Role of Reparations Payments, 1992 to 2018, by Kathryn E. W. Himmelstein MD, JAMA Network Open, Nov. 7, 2022.

• ‘If not us, then who?’: inside the landmark push for reparations for Black Californians, by Vivian Ho, The Guardian, Jan. 9, 2020. (This article includes interviews with people whose families suffered financial losses because of discrimination, racist government actions, and outright theft.)

• The blueprint the US can follow to finally pay reparations, by Annabelle Timsit, Quartz, Oct. 13, 2020.

• How reparations would work today, by Rodney Brooks, Quartz, Oct. 6, 2020. (A discussion of the way reparations have worked with regard to Germany and the Holocaust, along with thought-provoking possibilities for how it might work in America.)

• The debt US companies owe Black Americans, by Annalisa Merelli, Quartz, Oct. 6, 2020.

• Why we need reparations for Black Americans, by Rashawn Ray and Andre M. Perry, Brookings.edu, Apr. 15, 2020. (An explanation of why, how, and to whom reparations might be made, along with America's history of missed opportunities to do so.)

• Amid praise, criticism and frustration, Jesuits confront their history as enslavers by committing to reparations, by Kat C. (A list of selected articles and resources.)

• My ancestor owned 41 slaves. What do I owe their descendants?, John W. Miller, American Magazine, Nov. 28, 2018. ("My mistake, typical of white Americans, was treating slavery as if it were a mystery buried in the past. I had not known about my [slave-owning] ancestor Augustus. My family had not talked about slavery. Now we did. But confession is not atonement. And as one African-American historian or economist after another pointed out to me, slavery is not a mystery, and it is not past. What white Americans treat as a historical curiosity—something to investigate if we choose to—is to black Americans a cruel, unavoidable ghost that haunts this nation’s cities, schools, hospitals and prisons.")
  This article includes stories of descendants of slave owners — and of the people they enslaved — who are taking action to right these past wrongs. If you're interested in knowing what you can do, the reference to Coming to the Table might prove useful.

• H.R.40 - Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act. H.R.40 was first introduced in 1989. It is currently sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX]. *(Pay special attention to Sec. 2a: Findings.)

• H.R. 40: The Path to Restorative Justice, by Abibat Rahman-Davies, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Mar. 15, 2022.

• Are US churches setting the tone for reparations? How movement is growing from Hyde Park to Texas, by Kelly Powers and Sammy Gibbons, USA TODAY NETWORK, Jun. 19, 2022.

• How America's Legacy Of Racial Terror Still Affects Black Wealth, uploaded Feb. 16, 2022, to the Forbes channel on YouTube. (This video discusses generational wealth, generational poverty, and the lingering economic aftermath of race massacres in Elaine, Arkansas (1919) and Tulsa, Oklahoma (1921). Urban renewal's negative impact on Black communities is also discussed.)

  For additional information, go here.

• Reparations for slavery and genocide should be used to address health inequities, Roberta K. Timothy, The Conversation, Dec. 5, 2019. (Written by a Toronto-based author, this article includes a list of ways that reparations funds might undo the residual impact of slavery and genocide in Canada and the U.S., with emphasis on addressing the health needs of people of color.)

• xingonasinthepit's point-by-point explanation of why reparations should be made. Instagram, Aug. 2, 2020.

• The Case for Reparations, Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic, June 2014 issue.(Unfortunately, this article is behind a paywall. However, Coates discusses his article in 'The Atlantic's' Ta-Nehisi Coates Builds 'A Case For Reparations', by Audie Cornish, NPR, May 23, 2014. For a selected quote from the Atlantic article, see The Case for Reparations, by Kat C.)

• The Truth Behind ’40 Acres and a Mule’, by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (originally posted Jan. 7, 2013 on The Root.

• 'The biggest problem you've never heard of: Heirs property and Black property loss’, by Kat C.

• Reconsidering Reparations, by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, 2022. (Full disclosure: I haven’t read this yet. It was recommended by the Georgetown University library.)