Reparations for Slavery: Why I've Changed My Mind and What I'm Doing About It

If you’re White and trying to make things right, read From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century. It’s a serious work, so embrace your study of it as a serious investment in your racial learning. 

If you have reservations about the need for reparations, or—like I did—about the practicality of such an effort, I beg you to set aside your concerns and just commit to this book. You won’t be sorry.

The authors, William A. Darity, Jr., and A. Kirsten Mullen detail the economic and social injustice of slavery for Black people, from the inception of the slave trade to our day. It tells the story of America through the lens of equity denied—resulting in today’s systemic racism and reflected in profound and durable gaps for Black Americans in wealth, employment, education, healthcare, law enforcement, incarceration, homeownership, and other vital indicators of well-being.

The final chapters in the book confront arguments against reparations and offer a practical plan for mending history through direct payments to Black Americans. I was intrigued by the various methodologies for calculating the ‘invoice’ due today, ranging from billions to trillions.

All told, the authors succeed, in my view, in making the case for why and how African Americans should receive reparations for the enslavement of their ancestors, and the results of slavery in their own lives. 

Make up your own mind. Make this book the serious one you study this year. And then decide how you will respond.

“The courageous truth-telling in the book motivated me to publicly share truths about where I come from for the first time.”

This book challenged me to more carefully learn about the enslavers in my family tree. Their actions and decisions are a shameful stain on my own origin story. The courageous truth-telling in the book motivated me to publicly share truths about where I come from for the first time.

After reading this book, I have three actions in mind for me:

1)    I am working at learning and owning the shadows in my own ancestry. I am a direct descendant of people who enslaved Black people for at least 150 years in Virginia. Remnants of my family’s shame may be found at the Westover Plantation and the Marmion Plantation. Many of my ancestors enjoyed the immense privileges of the ‘planter class’ of White men in 17th and 18th century Virginia. I don’t know what to do with that truth, but I’m going to figure it out. Publishing these facts about my origins is a start.

2)    I will contact those who represent me in Congress, and ask them to sponsor the establishment of the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act. Then I will follow up to ensure they do so. 

3)    I don’t have to wait for meta-level action in Washington D.C. I can pursue the work of repairing across the racial divide—the essential idea of reparations—closer to home. Here’s a fantastic story about doing just that, by Chris Moore-Backman, on How I Can Offer Reparations in Direct Proportion to My White Privilege.

You, too, can own your ancestral story of advantage and/or disadvantage. You can seek Congressional action. You can work on interracial repair and reconciliation in your community.

As we lean into our learning and action around reparations for slavery, perhaps these words from Malcolm X in a 1964 interview will ring in our ears: 

“If you stick a knife in my back 9 inches and pull it out 6 inches, that’s not progress. If you pull it all the way out, that’s not progress. The progress comes from healing the wound that the blow made. They haven’t even begun to pull the knife out….They won’t even admit the knife is there.”

Take responsibility for being White—acknowledge that the knife is still in, and play your part in pulling it all the way out. Get busy with others across race, to heal the wounds inflicted by White people who came before you. Explore and make choices around the advantages that accompany your Whiteness. You can make reparations for slavery personal. 

#reparations #blackhistorymonth #greathearted