Reparations for slavery is the idea that some form of compensatory payment needs to be made to the descendants of Africans who had been enslaved as part of the Atlantic Slave Trade. The most notable demands for reparations have been made in the United Kingdom and in the United States, where slavery was the most pervasive. Caribbean and African states from which slaves were taken have also made reparation demands.
By Noah Smith, Bloomberg — The issue of reparations for African Americans is, of course, full of more moral and historical issues than one column, even by someone with much greater understanding and deeper knowledge than me, could ever resolve. But since the proposal is now being taken seriously, it’s worth thinking about the economics of how it could and should work. The idea of compensating the descendants of American…
Openly talking about reparations for the descendants of enslaved men and women is a notable shift for Democrats. But the conversation still lacks substance. By P.R. Lockhart, VOX — A…
National African American Reparations Commission Applauds Recent Statements of Interest by 2020 Presidential Contenders Calls on all the Candidates to Support HR-40 Download/Print PDF or DOC version of this…
By David Brooks, The New York Times — I’ve been traveling around the country for the past few years studying America’s divides — urban/rural, red/blue, rich/poor. There’s been a haunting sensation the whole time that is hard to define. It is that the racial divide doesn’t feel like the other divides. There is a dimension of depth to it that the other divides don’t have. It is more central to…
By Jamie Lovegrove, Post and Courier — SUMMERVILLE — The highest ranking African-American member of Congress has major problems with two prominent ideas to address racial disparities in the economy:…
By Julia Craven, Huffington Post — Let’s say you’re driving down the street and someone rear-ends you. You get out of your car to assess the damage. The person who…
A direct cost of slavery is the cost of African-American life. How much is a life worth depends on a lot of personal factors. By Benny Williams, Ebony — Reparations owed to African-Americans in terms of dollars are insurmountable and nearly impossible for America to afford. No amount of money can repair the psychological damage African-Americans have experienced for centuries, and no amount of money can address the systemic racism that…
William A. Darity, Jr., Duke University — In general, a program of reparations is intended to achieve three objectives: acknowledgment of a grievous injustice, redress for the injustice, and closure of…
By: Micah Smith, The Denver Channel — DENVER — Throughout Denver, there’s a growing racial justice movement focused on reparations and reconciliation. Most of those involved in this push to bridge…
By Eugene Scott, The Washington Post — Over the past few days, several Democratic contenders for the 2020 presidential nomination have come out in favor of reparations for people descended from slaves. It is an idea that is popular among African Americans, but one that poses political risks. On Monday, former housing and urban development secretary Julián Castro spoke out in favor of reparations on MSNBC’s “Hardball.” “It is interesting…
By Perry Bacon Jr., FiveThirtyEight — The New York Times published a story last week about how some Democratic presidential candidates — notably Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris — had said that they are open to the idea of the government paying reparations to black Americans as a restitution for slavery. The two candidates were cautious in their statements on the issue — both to the Times and in a subsequent Washington…
By Amie Parnes, The Hill — The most competition for black voters’ support in recent memory is set to take place among the candidates vying for the Democratic Party’s nomination to take on President Trump. African-American voters for years have been a key constituency in the Democratic race, helping to assure former President Obama’s and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s nominations in 2008 and 2016, respectively. But the fight this year…
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