“Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.” - Ta-Nehisi Coates [1]
America cannot be whole without, as Coates says, reckoning with our moral debts. The case for reparations surrounds us in obvious ways. The fact that White high school drop-outs have greater wealth than Black college graduates proves that education and hard work is not the solution to solving the wealth gap. White people, on average, have access to greater financial capital than their Black counterparts. This access to financial capital can be traced back to slavery, convict leasing, redlining, and other racist policies. [2]
I was reminded of the need for reparations recently, by Kendrick Lamar. Impactful art makes us think critically about the water we are swimming in. Kendrick Lamar’s Superbowl Half-time performance did just this. His performance was saturated with visual symbolism and lyrical historical references, and reminded me of the debt America still owes.
One of the most powerful images during Lamar’s performance is when his dancers form an American flag. The group is comprised of Black dancers, thus portraying a powerful symbol of America being built upon the backs of Black labor. The song “Not Like Us” references this idea by explicitly mentioning the contribution of slave labor to the growth of Atlanta when he says:
“Once upon a time, all of us was in chains
Homie still doubled down callin' us some slaves
Atlanta was the Mecca, buildin' railroads and trains
Bear with me for a second, let me put y'all on game
The settlers was usin' townfolk to make 'em richer
Fast-forward, 2024, you got the same agenda.” [3]
This verse critiques Drake for using African-American artists for his own clout, while failing to engage with racial issues in the United States. However, combined with the image of the flag, the verse also illustrates the vitality of slave labor to build America. Over $3 billion was the estimated worth of the forced labor done by enslaved African Americans in the 1860s. [4] This uncompensated work not only disadvantaged slaves and their descendants, but also made White people richer. This labor has remained uncompensated.
Lamar reiterates this historical injustice towards the end of his performance. In the interlude to his hit song, “Not Like Us,” he says, “40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music.” This haunting line refers to an order post Civil War that allocated 40 acres of land to formerly enslaved families on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. The allotted land was to be governed exclusively by African-Americans, and the order was implemented immediately. Black, self-governed communities were established, and these settlers were later given a mule by the army, hence giving way to the phrase. This order was an attempt to offer some sort of reparations for centuries of unpaid slave labor, and would have been a positive step for hostile race relations during the 1860s. The order was overturned, however, by Lincoln’s successor, Andrew Johnson. He returned all the allotted land to its previous owners, and the 40 acres and a mule promise was left unfulfilled. [5]
America has continued to fall short in its promise of equality, equity, and justice for African Americans. Slavery was followed by sharecropping and convict leasing, which were essentially slavery by another name. Jim Crow laws, redlining, the destruction of Black property, lynching, and hate crimes kept Black folks out of voting booths, homes, and schools. Redlining, the discriminatory practice of denying financial services, like loans or insurance, to people in certain neighborhoods based on race, was a barrier to creating generational wealth for African-Americans. Many White Americans have inherited wealth and homes for decades or centuries, thus having access to financial capital that most Black Americans haven’t.
Many Americans argue that reparations are too expensive and impractical. To provide adequate reparations that reflect centuries of grievances, it would cost the government an estimated $10.7 trillion.[6] The process of deciding who is eligible for these reparations comes with its own gray areas. I also understand when White folks feel that they should not be responsible for the actions of their predecessors. A blanket tax increase on non-slave descended Americans to pay for the reparations would include people who didn’t even have ancestors in America during many of these events, and some non-White folks who have experienced racial discrimination themselves.
But America has paid reparations before. We paid people for negative reactions to the COVID vaccines, Japanese Americans for the injustice of internment camps during WWII, Holocaust survivors, and September 11th victims. Why won’t we pay reparations for our oldest and most grievous sin? [7] The mechanics of implementing reparations are complicated, but whether we should is not. Reparations don’t have to be a $10.7 trillion upfront cost. Student loan forgiveness, free tuition for descendants of enslaved persons, down payment grants, or rollout financial compensation are forms of reparations. [2] Doing about anything is better than the status quo, which fails to try to mend any of the harm that has been done. Racial wealth gaps have not proven to fade with time, and all of us still benefit from the infrastructure built by enslaved people. America has a moral debt to pay, one that must be confronted. Until then, America can never be whole.
