Reparation

Reparation for slavery is the idea that some form of compensatory payment needs to be made to the descendants of Africans who had been enslaved as part of the Atlantic slave trade.

The most notable demands for reparations have been made in the United Kingdom and in the United States. Caribbean and African states from which slaves were taken have also made reparation demands.

These reparations have never been paid.

They can be contrasted with compensated emancipation, the money paid by governments to slave owners when slavery was abolished, as compensation for the loss of the property.

Slavery ended in the United States with the end of the American Civil War and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which declared that, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction”. At this time, there were an estimated four million African Americans that were set free.

In 2017 with HR40, reparations for slavery became a subject of discussion in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

Within the political sphere, only one major bill demanding slavery reparations has been proposed, the “Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act,” which former Rep. John Conyers Jr. proposed unsuccessfully to the United States Congress every year from 1989 until his resignation in 2017. As its name suggests, the bill recommended the creation of a commission to study the “impact of slavery on the social, political and economic life of our nation”.

In 2014, prominent American journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates published an article titled “The Case for Reparations”, which discussed the continued effects of slavery and Jim Crow laws and made renewed demands for reparations. Coates makes reference to Rep. John Conyers Jr. aforementioned H.R.40 Bill, pointing out that Congress’s failure to pass this bill expresses a lack of willingness to right their past wrongs.

In September 2016, the United Nations’ Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent encouraged Congress to pass the aforementioned H.R.40 Bill to study reparations proposals, but the Working Group did not directly endorse any specific reparations proposal. The report noted that there exists a legacy of racial inequality in the United States, explaining that, “Despite substantial changes since the end of enforcement of Jim Crow and the fight for civil rights, ideology ensuring the domination of one group over another, continues to negatively impact the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of African Americans today.” The report notes that a “dangerous ideology of white supremacy inhibits social cohesion among the US population”.

In 1999, African American lawyer and activist Randall Robinson, founder of the TransAfrica advocacy organization, wrote that America's history of race riots, lynching and institutional discrimination have “resulted in $1.4 trillion in losses for African Americans”. Economist Robert Browne stated the ultimate goal of reparations should be to “restore the black community to the economic position it would have if it had not been subjected to slavery and discrimination”. He estimates a fair reparation value anywhere between $1.4 to $4.7 Trillion, or roughly $142,000 for every black American living today.

Opposition to slavery reparations is reflected in the general population. In a study conducted by YouGov in 2014, only 37% of Americans believed that slaves should have been provided compensation in the form of cash after being freed. Furthermore, only 15% believed that descendants of slaves should receive cash payments. The findings indicated a clear divide between black and white Americans on this issue. The study summarized their findings, noting: “Only 6% of white Americans support cash payments to the descendants of slaves, compared to 59% of black Americans. Similarly, only 19% of whites – and 63% of blacks – support special education and job training programs for the descendants of slaves.”

In 2019, Democratic Party presidential primary candidate and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders was asked about reparations and responded that there are “better ways” to address the crisis in African American communities than “writing a check.”

Conservative writer David Horowitz wrote a list of ten reasons why “Reparations for Slavery is Bad Idea for Blacks - and Racist Too” in 2001. He contends that there isn’t one particular group that benefited from slavery, there isn't one group that is solely responsible for slavery, only a small percentage of whites ever owned slaves and many gave their lives fighting to free slaves, and most Americans don't have a direct or indirect connection to slavery because of the United States’ multi-ethnic background.

Compensation is something, typically money, awarded to someone as a recompense for loss, injury, or suffering.

Compensation and benefits (C&B) is a sub-discipline of human resources, focused on employee compensation and benefits policy-making. While compensation and benefits are tangible, there are intangible rewards such as recognition, work-life and development. Combined, these are referred to as total rewards . The term “compensation and benefits” refers to the discipline as well as the rewards themselves.

Financial compensation refers to the act of providing a person with money or other things of economic value in exchange for their goods, labor, or to provide for the costs of injuries that they have incurred.

Kinds of financial compensation include: Damages, legal term for the financial compensation recoverable by reason of another’s breach of duty, nationalization compensation, compensation paid in the event of nationalization of property, payment, remuneration, deferred compensation, executive compensation, royalties, salary, wage, employee benefits, workers’ compensation, to protect employees who have incurred work-related injuries.

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme,

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme…. Etc,

Seems we been talking about this subject for over 100 years and then some.

Do we want to payback for our injustices? Will that make us feel better? How much is compensation for stupidity?

From what I hear from the ‘life’ instructions, there is no sure path to happiness. Life is an adventure and possibility a struggle, but that is just what it is.

Fall down? Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move on.

Before the begetters jump on the simplistic approach, think about this.

If everyone who has been ‘wronged’ is compensated for his or her suffering, where does it start?

Where does it end?

Sure we all feel for those who suffer or who have suffered through history, but…

When there is a flood or a tornado or earthquake that home insurance won’t cover, turn to the government to give a helping hand.

What about those who were too short to get on the ride? What about those who were too large to fit in the seat? What about them who sent off to another country to be shot at? What about those who were unfortunate to be in a place that shattered and fell? What about those who trusted those who sexually abused them without them understanding? What about those who tried to learn but were not given the opportunity? What about those who tried to use a bathroom but were refused? What about those who were to spend 9-months carrying somebody they didn’t want? What about those who cannot coop with reality escape into ever land? What about those who can’t find the body identity?

You can decide how far the checkbook goes for past degradation and humiliations. It better be big for we go back to the slavery ever since we left the puddles in Africa.