Julie-Ann Douglas Mr. chrestay English Hon 1 May 22, 2016 Reparations for Slavery Why not blacks? How come other groups have been compensated but when it comes to African- Americans being reimbursed for their forced labor people see it as something that can't be done? Reparations for slavery has always been a serious topic that people have been arguing about for years. Before the civil war ended, General William Tecumseh Sherman issued an order that would give every former slave family 40 acres of land and an army mule, sadly the order was not acted upon. African Americans deserve reparations for their forced work, destroyed economics, separated families, broken traditions, and countless other conflicts caused by slavery that still affect the black community today. Descendants of slaves should be compensated for their ancestors struggles. Giving African Americans reparations for slavery can solve many problems in the government and the Black community. To start off on the reasons as to why reparations are a good idea, it can level the playing field for African Americans and settle the dispute between the two constantly battling races and future ones to come. If reparations are given to the African Americans what would they have to complain about when it comes to economics? Economics is the core problem to the mass incarceration, killings, and of course poverty in the community. Imagine the possibilities of the better schools, teachers, higher forms of education, it would lessen the amount of children dropping of high school, more black children going to college, it could possibly end the racial tension between whites and blacks. Whites may not realize that just because slavery was 150 years ago doesn't mean that the negative effects of slavery still linger around in the black community. Though it was a long time ago it still left blacks economically and mentally destroyed. There are people who are against the idea of reparations. Some believe that there is no specific person to blame for slavery it would be unfair to make people who have ancestors that probably had nothing to do with slaves pay for something their entire lineage had nothing to do with. Walter Williams, a writer in Capitalism Magazine goes against the idea saying, "For example, in 1956, thousands of Hungarians fled the brutality of the USSR to settle in the U.S. What do Hungarians owe black for slavery?".For Americans who don't have a history of slavery to be forced to pay would in fact be unjust. It wouldn't make sense at all for those people to be forced to earn money and use that hard earned money compensate a group of people who have nothing at all to do with them. Others believe that reparations for slavery wouldn’t be a good idea because they feel like money isn't the root cause of African Americans being held back. These people believe that African Americans just need to work harder and that they had enough time to catch up and get back on their feet. John Hawkins, a blogger and columnist, also says that "Just giving people money seldom helps to fix their problem. That’s why America’s “war on poverty” has been an utter and complete failure. After doling out more than 21 trillion dollars over the last 50 years, we've done nothing to reduce the poverty rate. Shortly after the War on Poverty got rolling (1967), about 27% of Americans lived in poverty. In 2012, the last year for which data is available, the number was about 29%" This is saying that even if the government does get to compensate African Americans it will not solve all problems in the black community since "America's war on poverty" wasn’t a success. According to Mintpressnews.com, "The United States Supreme Court has ordered the U.S. government to reimburse Native American tribes, including the Navajo Indians among others, for withholding funds after the federal government placed a cap on programs provided to the tribes, including education, environmental protection and security." This is an example of the government compensating/reimbursing a group of people. So, if our government can return or compensate money to a group of people why not blacks? Does equality still stand for African Americans ? You see, equality is "The state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities". America preaches that all who live here are equal that includes Indians, Whites, Hispanics, Asians, African Americans, etc. It is said that in the Bill of Rights we all are born equal, then why aren't black Americans eligible for reparations? Native Americans weren't the only group of people who were compensated for the wrongdoing of the U.S. government. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that ordered all Japanese-Americans to evacuate the West Coast into one of the ten internment camps across the country. "In 1988, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act to compensate more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent who were incarcerated in internment camps during World War II. The legislation offered a formal apology and paid out $20,000 in compensation to each surviving victim. The law won congressional approval only after a decade-long campaign by the Japanese-American community."(NPR.org). This Act was signed to compensate over 100,000 who were descendants of imprisoned Japanese survivors during WWII. Sending the Japanese-Americans to these camps was a civil violation of liberties. If in fact forcing these people to move from one place to another is a violation of liberties isn't slavery also a violation of liberty? Yet, still why are African-Americans not compensated for slavery? The circumstances the Japanese-Americans faced were no different from the circumstances slaves faced. African Americans do deserve reparations for slavery. Reparations for slavery can highly boost the living standards of black Americans. Since 27.4% of African Americans live in poverty compensation could lessen that percentage drastically. Also, because white households are so far ahead of black households, according to Pewresearch.org "The current gap between blacks and whites has reached its highest point since 1989, when whites had 17 times the wealth of black households." Compensating descendants of African Americans would surely reduce that gap. Compensation may also lower the amount of racial tension between whites and blacks because with the reparations given blacks would get better opportunities, better schooling. In conclusion, African American descendants of slaves should receive reparations for their ancestors forced labor. As stated in paragraph will for reparations for slavery .
