Pay what is Owed

In his controversial article The Case for Reparations, Ta-Nehisi Coates writes about the long history of economic oppression of African Americans following the abolition of slavery. Although an end to slavery seemed to mark a new era of equality, white supremacist tactics like sharecropping were designed to keep African Americans in economic an social bondage. By not providing equal resources and creating legal frameworks for continued oppression, white Southerners were able to perpetuate the inequality that slavery had created. The inequalities that were cemented during the reconstruction era set the stage for a strengthening of a society that profited from the exploitation of African Americans. The cycles of inequality continues to echo into the centuries following the Civil War. One example is the stark difference in housing afforded to white and black families. Coates writes that “From the 1930s through the 1960s, black people across the country were largely cut out of the legitimate home-mortgage market,” as seen in the redlining of housing districts in Chicago. By removing adequate housing resources from African Americans, white mainstream society kept African Americans in legal bondage.

           

When shedding light on these recent manifestations of segregation and oppression, it is clear that the work done following the Civil War and during the Civil Rights movement did not completely level the playing field for African Americans. Rather, the white patriarchy worked in covert ways to refuse the rights of the black community, using systematic racism to profit. This continued oppression strengthens the case for reparations, compensation to African Americans for centuries of enslavement and oppression. Though many disagree with the idea of reparations, or what form they should take, the ways that white businesses and individuals continue to profit on the marginalization of African Americans points to their necessity. Reparations are not clinging to the past nor are they “hush money,” rather, they would serve as a means to correct the broken system of the racist American society.

            

In his article, Coates points out that reparations would serve as a way for Americans to reckon with their past. I think this is the most important part of the argument for reparations. In other countries that have experienced oppression similar to slavery, like Germany and South Africa, reparations served as a means to acknowledge the mistakes of the past. Reparations cannot correct what was done, but they confirm that atrocities occurred, and that because of these atrocities, certain communities continue to fall behind in society. I believe that reparations in the United States would do just this—serve as a means to acknowledge the continued legacy of slavery and oppression against black bodies. We should seriously consider what forms these reparations could take and the benefits they would afford to the entire country.

Word count: 457

Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/