Pa Zong Moua
College Writing 1201
12/13/2018
Why Say “Yes” To Reparation For Slavery
1619 was when the Dutch sailed the first slave ship to America. Some undergo brutally
beating, and some die before even arriving at their destination. Hundreds of slaves chained
tightly to plank bed, and at least 15 to 30% of African American died at each sailed. Many of
them were lynched, cheated on, being segregated for centuries, and seeking protection from the
government but received none. Now think about those that have experienced these horrendous
events, and how it impacted Black American. The Civil Right Movement had improved African
American lives and of course, it’s a true success, but Black American on average still have the
lowest income, a higher rate of imprisonment and unemployment. With reparation, it does
guarantee more opportunities to make up for those that had been lost in those past times resulting
in many success. American should pay for past injuries and the injustice act that has caused
miserable in many Black Americans lives.
The brutality and purlian labor of slavery and the period of Jim Crow Law segregation
are no longer exist, but it had left such traumatize memories and loss of wealth as well as
opportunities. Alfred L. Brophy the Judge John J. distinguished professor of law said “ The
tough part of making the case for reparation is not showing that past racial crimes burden the
present. No fair-minded person denies this.”(New York Time) I agree that past crimes do affect
the future of someone’s lives. Because, in my experience, the Secret War from 1964-1975 left
my grandparent and ancestor to be disabled at the earlobe due to the loud noises of the bomb. For
those that still have the ability to hear, will either get shocked or scared to the sound of a falling
textbook because it will remind them of the shooting gunshot in the middle of the jungle. Same
goes to African American, nothing is more important than making up for the crimes American
had created centuries ago. “American slavery embraced the depravities of theft, rape, torture,
and murder. When it ended, something not completely unlike it followed.”(Randall Robinson,
NYT).
In the article, “Ten Reason Why Reparation For Blacks Is A Bad Idea For Blacks”,
David Horowitz stated that "Only a tiny minority of white Americans ever owned slaves, and
others gave their lives to free them." I agree with David Horowitz that other white people
sacrifice their own lives for the safety of black people, but I disagree that he said there's only a
tiny minority of white Americans that own slaves. According to the National Humanities Center;
“The Making of African American Identity: Volume I, 1500-1865 there were 4.5 million people
of African American living in the US in 1860, 89% of them were held by 385,000 slave owners,
and 3.6 million lived on plantations. There were a total of 46,300 plantations existed in the
United state, and the range of slaves from each plantation accounted from 20-1000 slaves.
African American was forced into labor while White Men eat off them, while White American’s
kids have the chance to pursue an education but not black kids. 4,743 people were lynched in the
US during 1882-1968, 72.7 % of black lynched, and 27.3% white people were lynched. Now the
27.3% were mostly lynched for helping and opposing to slavery.
White Americans used lynching to terrorized and controlled African American. Kevin D.
Williamson from the New York Time said that “ The people to whom reparation were owed are
long dead; our duty is to the living, and to generation to come, and their interests are best served
by liberty and prosperity, not by moral theater.” Although the people that had experience slavery
and the KKK were long gone, we can't just assume that they don't have families to continue
telling their story. American should not act blindly as if slavery never happened and that we
should ignore it, the pain former slavery once felt may also past down to their daughter, son, and
family. During my teenage years, I was assigned to a white school back in Wisconsin. I have a
friend who is African American her name was Betsy Jones. She once told me about a school
field trip, how they were taken into a place with a big cotton field. The lady told them that they
can pick up as many pieces of cotton, and they can keep it. She said that the field trip reminded
her of the story her great-grandmother told her, she was so upset and felt as if she was in the time
of slavery. Later that year she never showed up to school, and I've never seen her since. My
friend Betsy Jones is an explanation of why reparation does matter. Because she’d known what
education was like for her parent back then, and she knows the consequences of being a black
student especially when racial discrimination is still a big problem in the 21st century.
Opponents may argue that the problem many African American are facing in today's
world is not "legacy of slavery" or racism and that Black American are having more and more
opportunities than before. The thing is that racism still exists in today's world, I see videos of
people getting judge because of their skin color almost every day in the media or even in person.
Not everyone that becomes a hero is a hero. There is footage of policeman favoring people over
their skin and let their crime slide. According to Christine Hauser and Jacey Fortin from the New
York Time, there was a footage of a policeman convincing a white woman that she does not have
to worry about anything about stopping at traffic because she is not black. The policeman then
proceeds to say, “Remember, we only kill black people. Yeah. We only kill black people, right?”
This is also one of the reasons why black people are incarcerated more than white people and
had fewer opportunities. If police were to kill a person based on its skin color then how can we
guarantee the safety of our black neighbor or the job that our black friend is doing to help her
family? If a black student was cuff by police with a false report file wouldn’t that affect the way
the communities look at her? Or the kind of activity that we have to do outside of class, such as
fundraising for the seniors or orphanage?
The real questions that many opponents are asking is who would pay for Reparation?
How is it going to be done? The author of “The Language Hoax” John Mcwhorter stated that “
Now composed of a great many immigrants and their children - that “they” owe black people for
slavery and Jim Crow. The issue is not whether the argument should convince them, but whether
it will.” and David Frum from the New York Time also said “ But if “reparation” means what
most Americans reasonably interpret it to mean - cash flowing from some American to others in
race-conscious way meant to redress the racial wrongs of the past - then it’s a disastrous idea for
all groups in society.” I agree that we shouldn’t force people with no culpability to pay for
Reparation, but there are many other ways to fundraise money to improves poor black family.
There is a saying that actions speak louder than words, “There is no doubt it can be done. All
that’s missing is the will to do it.”(Melanye Price) We can help improve poor black family by
funding. Mary Frances Berry former of chairwoman of the U.S Commision on Civil Right
pointed out that institution, and corporations that “profit” from labor slavery worked should be
paying for Reparation including companies and banks that have been culpable of racism, house
inequity and “predatory financial lending”. We can also help by stop lending our coin to
fountains and donate it to poor black people, it doesn’t need to be an influx of cash from us to
help, it’s our kindness and willingness to help those in needs. Noah Millman a senior editor at
The American Conservative magazine stated that “Reparation may not lead to reconciliation, but
become the basis for further conflict between aggrieved groups of citizens.” I agree that we
cannot guarantee that Reparation would be a successful probably not fully, but with the
willingness funds and the help of past crimes institutions it would make some progress on poor
black families lives.
With Reparation, poor black families would have opportunities such as buying school
supplies for their kids, or celebrate their birthday and provide enough food so they won’t starve.
If you think we shouldn’t give Reparation to poor Black Americans then do you even deserve to
celebrate your 18ths birthday with your family? Or hosting a Thanksgiving dinner with your
family? Celebrating your favorite holiday? It’s a fact that everyone wants a normal life and
happiness, how could it be fair if we don’t let them have these type of happiness?. Reparation
would not just improve poor black families lives, but also the opportunities that poor black
student will be receiving. Many couldn’t afford for a higher education because of money, money
had become the world most used things, and not that much people have that. With funds and
donating to institutions that teach poor black students, it would increase their learning and
understanding as well as new equipments and techniques.
By now from what we learned in History class, we should have a great understanding
and knowledge that segregation was a real thing back in the days. The “Separate but equal” a
legal doctrine in United States constitutional law is wrong and of course most importantly
violated the 14th amendment: The 14th amendments banned states from restricting citizen's right
or denying any person's equal protection of the law. Education was never equal back then. Black
students were separated from white, and the fund rates for schools that serve black student were
many times lower than schools that teach white students. Think of how that would’ve affected
the education level between both. Note that not only education was a tool of inequalities, even in
the road, busses, water fountain, and houses for rent. Segregation is an act of disgust. Why is it
that White Americans wanted to treat black people as a disease and now acted as if it never
exist? Yes, it is a fact that many students asked parents for help when having trouble with
homework, but with inequality education, it is hard for black parents to teach their kids when
they don’t even have the opportunity to understand and learn the materials in the first place. “The
implication are chilling. As a rule, poor black people do not work their way out of the ghetto -
and those who do often face the horror of watching their children and grandchildren tumble
back.”(Coates, Ta-Nehisi)
With reparation, it’s a guarantee that more opportunities will be open to poor African
American to make up for those that had been lost during the past crimes. Note that the funding
from institutions that are guilty of slave labor will help results poor black families to have a
better life, such as consuming more education, technology, and equipment that will teach them
new things.
Citation:
The University of Vermont, www.uvm.edu/~dguber/POLS21/articles/horowitz.htm
“Criminal Justice Fact Sheet.” NAACP, www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/.
Hauser, Christine, and Jacey Fortin. “'We Only Kill Black People,' Police Officer Says During Traffic Stop.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 31 Aug. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/us/black-kill-police-georgia.html.
“Separate but Equal - Separate Is Not Equal.” National Museum of American History,
americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/1-segregated/separate-but-equal.html.
History.com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery.
