The triangle slave trade was a horrific event in world history, but is it really worthwhile to force the United States to pay reparations? Forcing the United States to pay for their actions in the slave trade is not worth the money or the time. Paying reparations does not mean that America is apologizing for their participation, and not only is the money not ensured to go where it is needed the most, but reparations would ruin the American economy.
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
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Already in debt, the United States cannot afford to pay millions of dollars of reparations for their participation in the slave trade. Since the slave trade was so long ago, the reparation money would not be helping with the issue. Slavery is what helped to build the United States of America, and ultimately slavery reparations would be what destroys the work that was done by the slaves that made the American economy so strong. Paying reparations for slavery would ruin the economy and is not worthwhile.
Although the triangle slave trade is thought of as one of the worst events in history, western countries like the United States should not be forced to pay reparations for it. Paying millions of dollars in reparations would be a wasted attempt at an apology, it would not go to help the people who need it the most, and reparations would make the strong American economy a complete and utter
I agree with Ta-Nehisi Coates on the Argument for Reparations, the black people of today necessitate a form of Reparations that includes the full realization and respect of the extent of damages waged against African Americans all across America. So many problems stem from the fact that the struggles of African Americans in this country are trivialized, debased, and mocked. People need and must understand the extent of slavery in this country and how it is at the base of everything American. Simultaneously, the concept white guilt must be excised out of the society, there is nothing to be guilty of you are playing an active role on disassembling the power system at play destroying so many black lives instead of profiting from it.
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.
In the Atlantic article by Ta-Nehisi Coates titled “The Case for Reparations, Coates argues that the reason why the United States was able to grow and acquire most of its wealth can be directly tied to the enormous losses people of the African-American community have suffered since the use of slave labor in America. Historically, African-Americans have always been discriminated against. Even today, African-Americans continue to be excluded from the system, while the nation, primarily non-blacks, continues to reap the benefits. Moreover, Coates affirms that the nation needs to acknowledge these truths and should provide reparations for the African-American people. Merriam-Webster defines reparations as “the act of making amends, offering expiation,
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.
The author uses the term “Reparations” repetitively in the text. According to the text the word “reparation” means to make amends. Coates (2014) also refers to reparations as compensation. America should take responsibility and pay the price for the mistreatment to African Americans (2014). Coates (2014) does not only mean monetary compensation but acceptance and acknowledgement. The author
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
The enslavement of Africans was a crime against humanity is the first proposition. The United States government has never acknowledged or taken responsibility for its role in the enslavement of Africans and the promotion of white supremacy. The mass kidnap and enslavement of Africans was the most wicked criminal enterprise in recorded human history. No compensation was ever paid by any of the perpetrators to any of the sufferers. The consequences of the crime continue to be massive, both in terms of the enrichment of the descendants of the perpetrators, and in terms of the impoverishment of the descendants of Africa.
For many years the United States has committed atrocious and discriminatory acts against African Americans. In a seemingly more “equal” society today many are wondering what debt is owed to the descendants of African Americans. According to Alfred Brophy of University of North Carolina, reparations are defined as, “programs that are justified on the basis of past harm and that are also designated to assess and correct that harm and improve the lives of victims in the future.” Throughout this paper I will be discussing whether reparations should be paid to African Americans. I will evaluate the question through legal, moral, and political lenses. I will evaluate the start of the movement of reparations while also taking into consideration how reparations have been given in the past. I will also explore new forms/types of reparations that can be given to African Americans. I will also determine the short and long term impacts the implementation of reparations would have on African American society and the society in its entirety.
Of those was the whole idea of reparations for blacks, which is great, but honestly the past should just be the past. I personally think to bring up the past is to hurt those in the future. Don’t get me wrong; I see the benefits that could arise from the case like closing the wealth gap. However, getting society on board would be much harder now than it was in the early economy. There is nothing that could fully repay the African Americans, not even the land in which they are owed. You can’t bring back what they really want, which are the family and friends that have been lost. You can’t heal the pain that they have endured along the way. So there is no need to bring up all the memories that would most likely lead to riots and for everyone to show their true colors for something that will probably never happen. Like Coates said, “The idea of reparations threatens something much deeper America’s heritage, history, and standing in the world.” (Coates, 2014) You cannot correct what has already been done all you can do is move forward even if it means moving forward without the idea of
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
America has gone through a terrible past. It has once decided to own people as property and deprive African Americans of their liberties and enslaved them. Since then, the United States has attempted to repair this mistake through reparations. The legal reparations of the United States have unsuccessfully redressed individual and social injustices by failing to alleviate the pain caused to the African American community. The Harm caused by Slavery still continues to be suffered by the community through this day.
Racism and hate have played a major role in United States history. These words have been the fuel behind slavery, inhuman treatment, and genocides. The Kosovo, Native Americans, Japanese, and African Americans are some of the prominent races that have been affected by racism and hate. The U.S. have given reparations to the victims of Kosovo, Native American, and Japanese, but no reparation have been given to African Americans. For five hundred years, the U.S. forced African Americans into slavery. As an African American woman in 2013, the question “ What ever happen to reparations for African Americans?” lingers in my mind. Don’t we deserve reparation just as the Native
The history of the United States is filled to the brim with an abundance of significant events. Over the course of this nation’s young history there have been numerous social institutions. Many have been a necessity in our development. However, the US was home to one of the greatest atrocities committed on mankind. The institution of slavery is not only the most embarrassing but most sever infraction on the natural rights of man. At times there were in excess of three million black Americans enslaved in this country. It was not the dismal living conditions nor the bleak existence they lived that led them into a resistance of slavery. It was the theft, the
Before I explain my reasoning, understand that I in no way would wish slavery on any people. One could only imagine what it would be like to live as a slave. I was to simply analyze both sides of the panel's debate and draw a conclusion based on the arguments presented. Based on the arguments presented, I deliver my opinion that reparations should not be awarded to those ancestors of the Atlantic Slave trade. I do agree with the pro-reparations panel that slave trade was and is still wrong. The selling of humans is not human and should not be tolerated. I firmly believe that slavery even though
It is no secret about the way in which America came to be what it is today, part of its history involves Africans forcibly being enslaved. Dating back to the beginning and to the end of slavery, they never received appropriate and equal compensation for their hard work. Unfortunately, these slaves who provided the involuntary labor are dead, but many of their descendants are not. In order to reinforce that racism is unacceptable and intolerable, the U.S. government should provide reparations for the descendants of African slaves such as and not limited to, free post-secondary education and money.