Reparations for African-Americans: Dream or Foreseeable Reality?

By Kimberly Harris, M.Ed.

Distinctive Voice Consulting

www.DistinctiveVoiceConsulting.com

 

I recently received a message from a neighbor who had just heard about a bill being proposed by a lawmaker to pay reparations to African-Americans for slavery. My neighbor was quite shocked and stated he was offended by such an idea and wanted to know how much this would cost. As a woman of color my immediate reaction was I was offended that he was offended. My offense morphed into annoyance. It was later that I realized that this person was looking for an answer from the only person he felt comfortable asking and that would give him an intelligent response. Upon further reflection I pondered the deeper issues here: people today do not wish to be held responsible for what they believe others did, and working class folks from the dominant culture are left feeling, “what about us” and “how will this work?”

To answer this question I offer a 29-minute podcast of one model of how reparations has been addressed. The model of repair was created by the students of Georgetown University. This podcast tells the fascinating story of how one student’s 2014 article to the university, discussing how Georgetown University Jesuit priests sold 272 slaves in 1838 to save the university from financial ruin, started a conversation that led to an actionable initiative of reparations.

My take-aways from this podcast are:

1. The argument that reparations for slavery should have been dealt with immediately after slavery ended to repair those directly affected by slavery is debunked by the fact that former slaves did try to advocate for reparations by lobbying for pensions but had no power or rights and were ignored.

2. Shock and horror that priests would sell slaves.

3. Amazement in how students would come up with a plan to make reparations within a couple of years while “the adults” can’t seem to come up with anything for centuries.

It is my hope that folks like my neighbor will be willing to listen and learn. That people like my neighbor would educate themselves on the matter rather than letting offense drive their opinion. It is also my hope that discussions will turn into understanding, understanding will turn into action and this action will lead to healing within the United States of America from this original sin.

The podcast, by PolicyLink’s “Radical Imagination” series can be found here: https://radicalimagination.us/episodes/reparations

Please feel free to share your constructive thoughts in the comments section of this blog.