The New Jim Crow By Alexander

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.

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

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

First, This debate revolves around the idea of race relations. At that point, the team that is best able to evaluate the root cause of racism should win the round. If we prove that reparations don’t solve for the underlying issues of racism, a negative ballot is in line.

We often hear the term “reparations” when it comes to the US Civil War, with the promised 40 acres and a mule being top of that list. However, have you ever wondered where that came from? Did the U.S. government actually make that promise, only to back out later? Perhaps 40 acres and a mule would not have been enough to resolve the racial problems that the U.S. faced, but at least everyone would have had an equal opportunity to make a good name for themselves. While 40 acres and a mule could never repay former slaves for all the suffering they were faced to endure, it would have given them a chance to make a living.

First and foremost, Coates in his article barely touches upon ways of going about said reparations. Although he does state or at least imply that the primary point (or aim) of his article, is to enumerate the list of injustices faced by the blacks at the hands of the white populace, and not to advocate any particular means of reparations; such an article without any means or ways of ensuing actions to resolve, defeats the purpose of presenting one in the first place. This he further concedes by hinting at the fact that teams of scholars, such as the HR 40, after heated debates and discussions, might find that America may never be able to repay the African American Community. “The idea of reparations is frightening not simply because we might lack the ability to

Historically, there has been many groups of people who have received reparations for past wrongdoings. There have been a few isolated incidents, such as the Rosewood event, where African Americans were harmed and received reparations; however, reparations have also been given on a much larger scale. Ta-Nehisi Coates is a national correspondent at The Atlantic, and he has written books along with countless articles on African Americans and equally. Coates is one of the most important names in the debate for reparations; his article “The Case for Reparations” is one of the most influential pieces on the topic. In his article, he writes about many different sub-topics on reparations, one of which is historical precedent. A previous historical account of reparations occurred in 1952 when West Germany began its journey of redemption for the horrors of the Holocaust. Cotes gives useful background information needed to understand the events that led up to the Israelites receiving reparations for the Holocaust. The road to reparations was a violent one indeed, but the end result was the Jewish people receiving reparations from West Germany. According to Joe Feagin, in his paper “Documenting the Costs of Slavery, Segregation, and Contemporary Racism: Why Reparations Are in Order for African Americans,” the German government paid more than $60 billion to the victims of the Holocaust in reparations. Feagin has received many scholarly awards on the topics of

One of the main issues that Americans have been debating about for years is whether African Americans should get reparations for enslaving some of their ancestors 200 years ago.

The issues reparations bring are multifaceted and complex, ranging from how reparations will be paid to dealing with varying public responses. A thorough investigation is required to fully identify the problems and provide any solutions. The issue of reparations is not singular to the current debates in the US. Both in other countries and in the US before, some semblance of reparations have transpired.

First, slavery occurred more than 150 years ago. Those who were directly involved, both the slaves and the people who enslaved them are no longer present now. Horowitz mentioned in his article, "Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Blacks is a Bad Idea for Blacks

In the present paper a clear link will be made between segregation and slavery and an increased poverty rate in African Americans now, as well as an analysis of previous historical instances of reparations and how other instances of reparations from slavery set a precedent for reparations for African Americans. There will also be mention of past historical precedent and how, when reparations were given prior, they were received. International law must be addressed as well, and it plays a key part in the argument for reparations. Once that information is established, I will go on to the gap in my knowledge. The gap that is present in my research is futuristic, therefore, there is no way to be completely sure of what way reparations will affect African Americans lives. The way I am hoping to reach this gap is through an analysis of different historical accounts of reparations. Along with looking to historical precedent, I will also look to see if financial aid will still be available to the African Americans who do receive reparations. The topic of reparations is a highly controversial one because there are extremely strong arguments on each side, some of which I will mention in this paper. Reparations have not yet been given to African Americans so there is a large gap in knowledge as to whether or not they will work. Since reparations are all theoretical this paper will be based heavily on

The topic of reparation is highly controversial debate, depending on who receive compensation in terms of ethnicity, race, or cultural heritage. For instance, several Native American tribal communities have received reparations for almost a complete eradication of their race by early American settlers. Jewish holocaust survivors have received reparations for the genocide of millions of their people during World War II by the Nazis. Also, Japanese Americans have been compensated for the forced internment they were subjected to during the Second World War by the United States government. However, African American has not been compensated for numerous wrongdoings they have encountered throughout American history. Should reparations be compensated to African Americans? This question sparks intense debates for those in favor and the opposition.

One of the quotes I disagreed with the most was, “Whites and blacks see each other the only way they can remember seeing each other—in relationship of economic and social inequality.” (Robinson 1) The reason I disagree with this the most is because of my own experiences growing up as a Caucasian. Throughout my entire life I have been in school with African Americans and I have never once thought of them as less than or socially unequal to me. I’ve discussed this scenario with my Grandparents who did not attend school with African Americans and this makes me realize, even more, that during the period of time in which we are living, African Americans do not face any kind of discrimination, any longer. I also found myself disagreeing with the author’s opinion, “Nonetheless, we must all, as a nation, ponder the repercussions of those acts.” This goes back to my point to where all Americans throughout the nation were not involved in slavery, so therefore why should they have to pay? I will also state that even some African Americans do not agree with reparations so why should they have to ponder upon the repercussions themselves? All around Robinson’s article was a subjective, and extremely biased argument. I do not think the author’s opinion was argued nor proved well in the article, “America’s Debt to

In this paper, a clear reasoning will be made pertaining to how reparations have helped different groups of people who have been awarded atonement. Throughout the course of this paper, it will become apparent how monetary reparations will affect the quality of lives of African Americans through analyzing the prior instances of reparations to different groups of people along with other instances in which reparations were awarded to African Americans. These previous instances set a precedent for any monetary reparations that can be given to African Americans for slavery and segregation. Reparations are meant to rectify violations of human

As elaborated in the first contention, the very federal government of the United States has a history of systematic discrimination, even within living memory, and is at fault for the general lack of wealth of black families today. In order to serve justice to these families, reparations must be