Are the current conditions really a "legacy of slavery"? If
so, what should be done? Some African-Americans argue today for reparations--a
sort of compensation for black who were forced to 250 years of slavery.
Reparations for the slavery is not a new idea. Before the Civil War
ended, General William Tecumseh Sherman issued an order in South Carolina. He
wanted 40 acres and the loan of an Army mule set aside for each former slave
family. This order was never carried out. After the war, Radical Republicans in
Congress passed laws requiring confiscation of former-Confederate property to
provide the ex-slaves with "40 acres and a mule." In 1866, President
Andrew Johnson vetoed the legislation.
The next push for reparations took place at the turn of the century.
Several black organizations lobbied Congress to provide pensions for former
slaves and their children. One bill introduced into the U.S. Senate in 1894
would have granted direct payments of up to $500 to all ex-slaves plus monthly
pensions ranging from $4 to $15. This, and several similar bills, died in
congressional committees. The pension movement itself faded away with the onset
of World War I.
During the 1960s, some black leaders revived the idea of reparations. In
1969, James Forman (then head of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating
Committee) proclaimed a "Black Manifesto." It demanded $500 million
from American churches and synagogues for their role in perpetuating slavery
before the Civil War. Black nationalist organizations, such as the Black Panther
Party and Black Muslims, also demanded reparations.
Many people and groups have voiced their opposition to the whole idea of
slavery reparations. Major arguments against reparations include:
- There are no black slaves living today.
Slavery ended more than 160 years ago at the cost of over six hundred thousand
lives lost in the Civil War. It is unfair to ask American taxpayers, many
of them from families that came to the United States after slavery ended,
to pay for the wrongs of slavery.
- The problems faced by African Americans today
are not the "legacy of slavery" or even racism. Many blacks have
succeeded very well in American society. The problems of poor African
Americans are caused by social ills within the inner city, such as the
breakdown of families, high crime rates, and dependence on welfare.
- Federal and state governments have already
spent billions of dollars on social programs such as welfare, subsidized
housing, health care, employment development, affirmative action, and
education. These programs have benefitted African Americans.
- African Americans, particularly the young,
need to overcome their problems through their own efforts and not depend
on more government handouts and benefits.
- Reparations would be too expensive, depriving
the country of the opportunity to fix the Social Security and Medicare
systems and meet other budget needs that benefit all Americans.
- Any reparation plan would lead to unfairness
and huge administrative costs.
Advocates for
reparations reject these arguments. They contend:
- The claim for reparations is not against white
Americans or even individual Americans. It is a claim against American
government and society, which has continued from the time of slavery. As
all members of society share in society's benefits, they also must share
the burdens in the form of taxation. Through slavery, African Americans
were terribly wronged and modern blacks were robbed of their inheritance.
Further, blacks face racism every day. They deserve to be compensated.
- The problems faced by many blacks today come
from slavery and society's ongoing racism. Blacks were uprooted from their
homes in Africa and brutalized in America by a system that destroyed the
family structure and degraded the individual. When slavery ended, African
Americans owned nothing. Isolated and discriminated against, they were
denied education, contacts with society, and economic opportunity.
Compared to whites, blacks remain in a disadvantaged position and will
remain so until they receive compensation and society's racism ends.
- Welfare, subsidized housing, affirmative
action, and other previous efforts to address socio-economic problems of
the black underclass have been too little and too late. They failed
because society has failed to come to grips with the central problem--its
own racism and discrimination. In some cases, social programs, though
well-intentioned, actually increased black isolation and further degraded
the black community. In addition, these programs benefitted other groups,
not just blacks. By doing so, they failed to address the unique claims
based on slavery that African-Americans have.
- Reparations will not promote dependency.
Instead, they will give individual African Americans and the community as
a whole a chance to create their own economic base and become
self-reliant.
- The cost of reparations may be great, but a
debt is owed and must be paid. The moral claim for reparations at least
equals that of any other government program.
While it is unclear
whether those advocating reparations for slavery ever will be successful, it is
likely the debate will go on.
(This
article is substantially an extract of an article published by Constitutional
Rights Foundation) (https://www.crf-usa.org)
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