Should the United States Federal Government pay reparations to the descendants of slaves? In a Pew Research survey, Carrie Blazina and Kiana Cox analyzed the attitudes of White and African Americans toward reparations for slavery. The survey highlights addressing historical injustices as slavery continues to impact social, economic, and political dynamics. 77% of African Americans believe reparations will rectify past wrongs and achieve racial equity, while 80% of White Americans are doubtful or opposed. Most White Americans are unaware of the impact of slavery on the inequalities faced by African American communities. Some say reparations are unfair and believe they should not be responsible for historical injustices. Some are concerned about …show more content…
With a blend of historical narrative, statistical analysis, and personal anecdotes, Coates describes countless ways in which African Americans have been disenfranchised throughout American history. However, critics argue that reparations could be complex and worsen racial tensions. Some argue that there would be challenges in finding out who would be entitled to reparations, how much would be paid, and how to handle logistical issues. From the brutal abuse of enslaved Africans to the discriminatory housing policies of the 20th century, he traces patterns of oppression and structural inequality that continue to shape the lives of African Americans. Coates examines tales of lynchings, massacres, and racial terror acts against African Americans by white supremacist organizations like the KKK. Coates reframes the concept of reparations as a moral imperative rooted in historical wrongdoing and the pursuit of justice. He compels readers to confront the human cost of America's history of oppression and reckon with the moral debt owed to people who suffered as a result. Moreover, Coates challenges readers to analyze how the struggle for reparations is about fundamentally reshaping the social and economic structures, …show more content…
They differ in how much they emphasize specific data and evidence to support their arguments, leading to varying levels of emphasis on the factual basis for reparations. Coates and N’COBRA agree on reparations for African American slavery. However, they both have different definitions of what makes up reparations and how they should be implemented. Coates defines reparations as a moral imperative to address ongoing racial inequalities and to provide redress for historical injustices inflicted upon African Americans. N’COBRA defines the advocacy for policy measures in financial compensation, education and healthcare investments, and community development initiatives. They both agree on the quality of reparations to achieve justice and equity but differ in their emphasis on moral imperatives versus practical outcomes, leading to various levels of focus on the qualitative aspects of reparations. Both stakeholders understand the importance of having broad policy changes to achieve reparations. In contrast, their approaches to achieving reparations through policy forms have different advocacy strategies and priorities. While they share common goals regarding reparations for slavery, they approach these issues from their viewpoints and prioritize distinct
In 102 Minutes, Chapter 7, authors Dwyer and Flynn use ethos, logos, and pathos to appeal to the readers’ consciences, minds and hearts regarding what happened to the people inside the Twin Towers on 9/11. Of particular interest are the following uses of the three appeals.
Coates wrote a 176 page long letter to his 14 years old son to explain what the African American society were going through at the time being. In the book, Coates used himself as an example to demonstrate the unjust treatment that had been cast upon him and many other African Americans. Readers can sense a feeling of pessimism towards African American’s future throughout the entire book although he did not pointed it out directly.
For as long as I can remember, racial injustice has been the topic of discussion amongst the American nation. A nation commercializing itself as being free and having equality for all, however, one questions how this is true when every other day on the news we hear about the injustices and discriminations of one race over another. Eula Biss published an essay called “White Debt” which unveils her thoughts on discrimination and what she believes white Americans owe, the debt they owe, to a dark past that essentially provided what is out there today. Ta-Nehisi Coates published “Between the World and Me,” offering his perspective about “the Dream” that Americans want, the fear that he faced being black growing up and that black bodies are what
Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of the article “The Case for Reparations” presents a powerful argument for reparations to black African American for a long time of horrendous injustice as slavery plus discrimination, violence, hosing policies, family incomes, hard work, education, and more took a place in black African American’s lives. He argues that paying such a right arrears is not only a matter of justice; however, it is important for American people to express how they treated black African Americans.
According to Jim Meyers, in "Righting the Wrongs of Slavery," reparations for slavery wouldn't solve anything. He claims that it would just put an even bigger rift between white and black Americans. He argues that "white bitterness would be inescapable" and that white Americans would feel as though they owned everything that black Americans obtain with the reparations. He also poses the questions that many of the articles for and against reparations pose: Who will receive these reparations and who will have to pay them? Is it just based on skin color? Will all black Americans receive reparations even if they aren't descents of slaves or will they look at every Americans genealogy to discover who is and who isn't? What about white Americans who aren't descents of slave holders? Will Irish immigrants who came to this country in the 1920's have to pay these reparations? It's really hard to draw the line. The battle seems like a hard one to win when there are so many variables that can't be ignored.
Slavery is one of America’s biggest regrets. Treating a human with the same beating heart as a low, worthless piece of trash only because of skin color is a fact that will forever remain in our country’s history. Those marked as slaves were sold, tortured, demoralized, raped and killed. After the Emancipation in which slavery was illegalized, many would think that the horrors were over and that America as a whole started a new leaf. Unfortunately, the man of the South, refusing to move forward tried to keep the colored man down as best they could. Their premeditated plans and actions to find an excuse to continue torturing and killing the Negro man continued for years, which are documented in “A Red Record”. This story captures the grueling events African Americans were put through and the unfairness of the times. By capturing and sharing this history it will make sure these mistakes can never be repeated again .
While the formal abolition of slavery, on the 6th of December 1865 freed black Americans from their slave labour, they were still unequal to and discriminated by white Americans for the next century. This ‘freedom’, meant that black Americans ‘felt like a bird out of a cage’ , but this freedom from slavery did not equate to their complete liberty, rather they were kept in destitute through their economic, social, and political state.
In “The Case for Reparations,” Ta-Nehisi Coates sets out a powerful argument for reparations to blacks for having to thrive through horrific inequity, including slavery, Jim Crowism, Northern violence and racist housing policies. By erecting a slave society, America erected the economic foundation for its great experiment in democracy. And Reparations would mean a revolution of the American consciousness, reconciling of our self-image as the great democratizer with the facts of our history. Paying such a moral debt is such a great matter of justice served rightfully to those who were suppressed from the fundamental roles, white supremacy played in American history.
In this story it clearly shows us what the courts really mean by freedom, equality, liberty, property and equal protection of the laws. The story traces the legal challenges that affected African Americans freedom. To justify slavery as the “the way things were” still begs to define what lied beneath slave owner’s abilities to look past the wounded eyes and beating hearts of the African Americans that were so brutally possessed.
Ta-Nehisi Coates article titled The Case for Reparations is a lengthy article about different issues that faced the black community from the past to the present and the struggle to acquire reparations for them. Coates brought issues back to light after they were bury by society. He mention things that I was aware of and things I had no idea happened. It was an enlighten piece that should be recognized for its accomplishments in discussing the issues of the past that still occur in the present.
Reparations For 246 consecutive years, blacks have been kidnapped, whipped to death, mutilated, and raped. From 1619 to 1865, these generations of slave families were living as property rather than human beings. History would agree that the crimes done against these set of selected people do not compare to those of other races. Many people don’t know that there were sex slave farms that practiced a process known as “buck breaking”.
One way would be looking at family history and trees. However there is an issue with this. Most family trees do not connect back to the eras when slavery was in practice and if they do reach that far, most trees would be incomplete. Additionally, there are no black slaves living today. Slavery ended more than 160 years ago at the cost of several hundred thousand lives lost in the Civil War. It is unfair to ask American taxpayers, many of them from families that came to the United States after slavery ended, to pay for the wrongs of slavery. The article by Hawkins further explains this point when he states, “Who would receive reparations? There are no living slaves; so it is impossible to compensate the people who were hurt by the cruel and oppressive practice of slavery. So, would we compensate black Americans in general on the theory that slavery has held them back? Blaming the economic problems someone has today on something that happened to his ancestors almost a century and a half ago seems like one heck of a stretch, but let 's say we buy into the argument…” (2014). Just as Hawkins is saying, there is no way to be sure that these people were truly impacted by slavery and it would be unfair to give a mass amount of help to those who do not deserve it. Additionally, those who receive these benefits may abuse them. Counter arguments have been
Imagine you’re young, and alone. If your family was taken from you and suffered horribly for your freedom, would you want to be repaid in some form? In the article “The Case for Reparations” Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses a great deal of information about reparations, and if they should be given. Reparations are when a person or people make amends for the wrong they have done. Ta-Nehisi believes that from two hundred years of slavery, ninety years of Jim Crow laws, sixty years of separate but equal, and thirty five years of racist housing policy, that America is shackled. Only if we face the compounding moral debt can America be free. Until we face the reality of what happened together, we will always be bound by the lies that have been told.
The structure of a society is based on the concept of superiority and power which both “allocates resources and creates boundaries” between factors such as class, race, and gender (Mendes, Lecture, 09/28/11). This social structure can be seen in Andrea Smith’s framework of the “Three Pillars of White Supremacy.” The first pillar of white supremacy is the logic of slavery and capitalism. In a capitalist system of slavery, “one’s own person becomes a commodity that one must sell in the labor market while the profits of one’s work are taken by someone else” (Smith 67). From this idea of viewing slavery as a means of capitalism, Blacks were subjected to the bottom of a racial hierarchy and were treated nothing more than a property and commodity that is used for someone else’s benefit. The second pillar involves the logic of genocide and colonialism. With genocide, “Non-Native peoples th...
In this paper I will argue that America should pay reparations to black communities that have suffered most from institutionalized racism. My view is not that reparations should be paid via checks mailed by the federal government, of an undeterminable sum, to families that are most eligible, but rather, through changes in policy. These policies would tackle racial inequality at it most obvious sources, the wage gap, the mistreatment of black Americans by our criminal justice system, quality of education, and the disparity in housing between black and white Americans.