The Question of Reparations

In a recent episode of The Real News, Jacqueline Luqman interviewed Adolf Reed, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, on the issue of reparations for the descendants of slaves in America.  Overall it was a rather wide-ranging discussion, but the primary focus was on the response of Bernie Sanders in comparison to the other Democratic Party candidates for the 2020 Presidential election.  The main question is whether Sanders should have a specific answer or policy on that issue instead of denigrating the idea of "writing a check".

A salient point that was mentioned in the interview is that there is no consensus on exactly what is meant by reparations.  This was discussed in some length comparative to the length of the interview, and what was apparently agreed upon is the need for further discussion, and perhaps legislation aimed at coming to a conclusion on what would be appropriate in this day and age, as well as the political viability of tackling this idea as a society.

I have a few questions on this issue.  Some might think that the question of Sanders' response would be foremost, but they would be wrong making that assumption.  It's well-known among my friends, colleagues, family acquaintances both on-line and off that I'm a strong supporter of Senator Sanders and the progressive agenda.  But here I wasnt to focus specifically on the issue of reparations.

As noted, both here and in the interview, there is no consensus on the issue.  If I recall my history classes correctly, the original solution to slavery after the Civil War was to give the freed slaves, as the once-popular saying goes, "40 acres and a mule".  (As an aside, this was actually done in South Carolina, until after Abe Lincoln was assassinated and the new President, Andrew Johnson, took back the land and the mules.) 

The question then should logically turn to how that solution could be translated to fit our modern-day society.  In other words, what would be an equivalent, in today's societal and economic terms, to those 40 acres and a mule?  Further, we need to ask ourselves and society as a whole if it can be done; and if so, how we can do it.

In my view, we the people should be the ones to find solutions, for the very simple reason that the greatest positive changes in human society have come about, not from the leaders, but from the people, in movements of the masses.  So we should be the ones to not only find the solution to this issue, but to then communicate that (or those) solutions to our elected representatives, including (and perhaps especially) to those who are seeking the Presidency.

© March 30, 2019 by Donald C. Rice Jr.

Jacqueline Luqman's interview can be seen here:

Bernie and the Reparations Debate