Ten Reasons Why Reparations For African Americans

Reparation is a term defined as “the making of amends for a wrong one has done, by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged.” How does this exactly apply when we’re talking about discrimination and segregation? Ta-Nehisi Coates presents “The Case for Reparations” to illustrate the need of a reparation to African- American citizens. Coates explains three major concepts in his paper. He emphasizes how African- American citizens have helped create wealth, displays how the government has actually restricted African- American citizens from owning homes in history, and presents a series of compelling stories from people still suffering discrimination and segregation today. In this paper, I will defend “The Case for Reparations” in agreement with Ta-Nahisi Coates.

The United States government should pay reparations to African Americans as a means of admitting their wrong-doing and making amends. The damages African Americans have sustained from White America’s policy of slavery have been agonizing and inhumane. Therefore, I am in favor of reparations for African Americans. The effect of slavery has been an enduring issue within the African American community. Many of us are cognizant of the harm racism brought to the African American race, conveyed through slavery, racial segregation and discrimination. African Americans suffered many atrocities, but the greatest damage done to them was the destruction of they’re original identity. African

When comparing the arguments made by David Horowitz in Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Blacks Is a Bad Idea for Blacks—and Racist, Too! and by Robert Chrisman and Ernest Allen, Jr. in Ten Reasons A Response to David Horowitz it is difficult to side with one argument over the other. Horowitz argues that if Americans are to establish that reparations must be paid to Black Americans, we must establish those who are responsible for intentionally harming Black Americans, as well as those who were directly harmed. He points out that those campaigning for reparations have made no distinction between the victims of slavery, and the general black community, causing the claims for reparations to be based on race alone. In contrast, Chrisman and Allen argue that slavery is an institutional harm that was inflicted upon a particular race, and therefore reparations should be paid to that race as a whole. They argue the notion that slavery has caused racism to become incorporated into our society, and that this in turn harms Blacks.

For years African Americans descent were slave by the United States. During these rough times, Africans faced painful hardships and lost their true identity. Later on in 1863, president Abraham Lincoln announced The Emancipation Proclamation where the slaves were finally "free". Although this freedom, many Africans were still considered slaves to many white Americans. Whites made African Americans believe that if they stayed, they would be paid and live a much better life rather than leaving with empty hands and starting off from nothing. Though this, Africans were still betrayed by the whites even though they were already considered free. Taken this into consideration, there’s one question that has remains for years, and that is whether or not black Americans should be paid for the reparations of their hardships. This had been a commonly topic for years with two sides to the story. Many agree with the idea that the United States should pay for reparations because Africans were promised goods for their hard work. And on the other hand, many believe that the United States shouldn’t pay for reparation because slavery ended years ago and it is unfair to take money from American taxpayers where many came to the United States after slavery ended. The author of The Case for Reparation, Ta-Nehisi Coates goes into deep details on how the U.S should be marked responsible for paying for reparations. And writer Kevin D. Williamson goes against Coates own essay in how the U.S shouldn’t

To better understand why the issue of reparations being paid to freed slaves or their descendants, one would have to understand a few very important facts such as slavery made America wealthy, and racist policies since have blocked African American wealth-building, the other is many indentured slaves and their families spent their entire lives as enslaved property and now freed into a society still going through changes and still in formation stages.

Long Overdue, The Politics of Racial Reparations, provided a compelling description of reparations within the African American Community. Charles P. Henry developed a crucial argument on how U.S government should effectively apologize for the damages caused during slavery and be compensated properly since does who harmed the slaves are dead. However, high number of people disapproves the idea of reparations. Many do not support the reparations because they believe that slave owners and traders were simply doing what was acceptable in the society during that

As the country began to recognize that wrongs must be righted the idea of reparations for African Americans started as early as the Reconstruction Era. Around the time of the Reconstruction Era, the first call for reparations was mainly for the purpose of punishing the South, in hopes of hindering the Confederacy. Post the

America owes a debt to slavery that can never be repaid. That's not to say it shouldn't be. At the very least, it should be acknowledged, validated, and honored with the respect that it deserves.

The issue of slavery has been in infamous part of American history since it first started in the 1600’s in Jamestown, Virginia. During the colonial era, white male landowners needed help on their land taking care of crops, so they would purchase the African slaves after they arrived by boat and have them work the land as well as other tasks that needed to be done such as tending to

The article, “The Case for Reparations”, presents itself with a commendable representation on how the need for reparations is essential when combined with the brutal history of slavery and progression of blacks in American Society after slavery. Ta- Nehisi Coates argues that the relationship between racial identity and reparations is based upon America’s debt to blacks for the countless years of injustice. With this he demonstrates how white supremacy has ultimately used impractical measures to maintain what they consider social stability for those who were not African American.

Slavery still affects the African American community to this day, creating a social divide between races through the belief reparations are due from the horrible events of the past. Reparations would still need to be given to African Americans for the inhuman treatment of their past ancestors, and the social inequality that followed after the Union’s victory of the Civil War. The United States repaying African Americans for their horrible past would bring justice to the those who actually faced the effects of slavery. While reparations seem like a sensible way to pay back the African American community, people have argued they no longer deserve this repayment. Since current African Americans have not lived through the hardships of their ancestors,

A big argument often used in support of reparations is the idea that reparations will help to fix the socio-economic problems with African Americans in the United States. Although a check for $10,000 or $20,000 may be helpful for a short period of time, it will do very little in the long run. Racism won’t end just because African Americans are given an apology and a bag of money. It may in fact make things worse if people feel that reparations are unjustified and they dislike the special treatment of African Americans. Reparations won’t fix the fact that most people who live in ghettos are African American or the wage gap between whites and blacks. It may even cause African Americans to be in a worse financial situation than they were previously if they are irresponsible with it.

Requiring the United States to give money to a country is not an apology for the tragic reality of the slave trade. Money cannot erase a country’s history and heritage, and frankly reparations might just make the problem worse. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay reparations for their actions during World War I, and now, that treaty is considered one of the causes of World War II. Forcing Western countries to pay millions of dollars to a another country, in order to cover up their actions during the slave

This is one of the earliest successful petition for reparations. After 250 years of enslavement, it is not ridivulous to argue that African-Americans at that time were rightly owed reparations. Coates notes that Quakers were required to compensate their former slaves. Reparations were once considered just for the wrong done to slaves, yet many thought they did Africans a favour by brnging them out of African (for slavery in the U.S.). The superiority that White anglo-saxon protestants felt over non-Christians and people of other races is still evident today, with many believing that bringing Black people forcibly to the U.S. for forced servitude was better for them as it exposed them to Christianity and other Western ideals deemed

In the North, many people rely on the slaves in the south for resources such as tobacco and cotton, that make for good money. If it wasn’t for the slaves many of us wouldn't be so well off and would not be nearly as rich as we are now. Although the Northern states did not hold many slaves themselves, rather than in large cities, the slaves in southern states played a huge role on the economy of us merchants, who require the slaves to produce these cash crops in order to supply ourselves the the money to support our own families. So we believe slavery should be allowed. On the account of the new laws allowing debtors to repay their debts “in kind” with items such as corn,livestock,tobacco,etc.. Is Outrageous! These laws cheat us out of our own