One of the things that I wanted to bring up in class was the viewpoint of the reparations debate from the African American perspective. In a lot of black communities, race is and will always be a huge issue, as well as part of this collective identity that people carry around with them and pass on to their children. That is, this idea of always having to stuggle against the current system and feeling like you're being pushed aside by the white majority. (A notion that is even glorified by some rappers and other black artists today.)
These types of feelings from some in the black community are not going to go away overnight, if ever, based on an apology issued by the government. Even so, most expect something to be done to acknowledge the hardships suffered and passed down generation after generation.
Personally, I think that reparations in the form of money given to individual slave descendants is completely out of the question this far down the road. What I do think can be done is to go forward with the investigation into the history and impacts of slavery in the United States, and based on the findings, find those areas within black, or just minority communities, and put the money into learning centers, restaurants, clinics, and other businesses that encourage a healthier social environment.
I'd be happy to hear what you guys think.
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7 comments:
I agree whole-heartedly, and think that being pro-active to create sustainable change is the way to go. Monetary reparations would do nothing to change the social factors which create the environment of constant struggle with seemingly no way out.
Rather than create yet another study to tell us what we already know - that we live in a culture where African Americans have to overcome obstacles to live a “privileged” life - we must start addressing the problem with ideas such as yours, Alycia.
Most important in my opinion, however, is empowerment through education. Successes will be far sweeter and far more likely to last for African American communities if they come through self empowerment. The government should sponsor programs which encourage students in failing schools (wherever they be) from a young age to work hard and shoot for college or tech-school. These programs should remind students that with scholarships and student loans they don’t need to be rich to go to school. High Schools should supply constant support and encouragement through the college application process. Make it “cool” to stay in school. Education is key to being able attain success without handouts and leg-ups.
Additionally, all schools – be they predominantly black, white, pink, or aqua – should make sure that the current inequities are taught to students. For non-minority students, it can make them aware and sensitive to the situation and encourage them not to fall into the traps of a “white privilege” society. For minority students it can serve as a challenge: “Don’t be a statistic, change the trend, show ‘em what you’re made of.”
You have to start from the very beginning – with the children.
- Krista
I completely agree with both Alycia and Krista. I am a huge advocate of education and its importance in pulling people out of problems that seem to become vicious cycles in society. I would definitely say that a potential answer to this issue is education. Or, at least, it is a solid place to start.
I also agree that reparations in the form of monies will do nothing to improve or change the situation. If people are uneducated, the money will not be used effectively. Also, who ever said that paying some one would take the pain of generations of suffering away? I would honestly be insulted if I were being offered money for such a crime against humanity.
I think that the discussion was good today in class and established several things. However, now that we recognize the present problems, I do believe it is important for those in charge to stop talking about it and start doing something. Although some argued that the race issue is inherently in our institutions and system, I don't think efforts to change can hurt anything. Efforts to change are the only way we can revamp the way society views this issue which may merely be a first step, but at least it is a step in the right direction.
It's interesting to see monetary reparations resolved in our debate this way. I mentioned that opponents of the Reparations bill claim that the possibility of African-Americans receiving a check is impractical, and it would be difficult to determine eligibility. Rep. Conyers skillfully always responds that the bill does not actually recommend a check -- only a study.
I have to agree with all three ladies on this one, education is a great place to start. I also do think that the race issue is inherent in our society today, and that many current problems with racism and inequality can be traced back to slavery, and we are now seeing its effects generations later. A couple of things I was thinking over in class, the first, the apology. I think it is only right for the United States to issue an apology for slavery. Australia has just done so for their treatment of the aborigines, and it seemed that many people appreciated it. The United States represents and speaks for the nation, the people, us. I do understand that there are still white supremacists that should not be included in the apology, or who would not endorse it like Tymon said in class. However, in my opinion, let those people write individual letters into their state governments after the apology has been given. If these idiots really want to take their time to object to the wording, “We the Government of the United States” and some sort of representation of the people. My guess is that they do not have the will power of brain power to do so. While the apology may be largely symbolic, who cares? I think many people are waiting, have been waiting for an apology of this kind. Will it fix everything? No, but that is the first step. Next, while I agree that many other groups, such as the immigrant groups we discussed as moving to the U.S. have faced hardship and discrimination. Yet, this is on a whole other level. These groups were for the most part “white” and able to lose their accents and customs to blend in with the WASP majority. I think it is wrong to say they have experienced problems on the same level. Thomas Wells wrote in his recommendation for HR 40 that the prison population in this country is 40% African American. That is an overwhelming majority. I do not think that percentage is even close to anything immigrants may have faced, 40% of Italians, Germans, French, Irish, etc. are not in the prison population. Almost 10% of the entire African American community is behind bars. They are more likely to be arrested, questioned and even suspected for crimes. I think that this is proof enough of the inequality. While I do think many of the points were valid in class, I think we all have to realize that blacks are at a substantial disadvantage, upon birth, solely for the color of their skin. As to the question of what we should do next, I am not quite sure. Racial tensions are going to be the hardest thing to fix, and at the heart of this issue. I do think the investigation with HR 40 may be a little late. I do not think that Congress should waste these five million dollars in order for some Brookings Institution to say that slavery created many problems for African Americans today and still has lingering effects. They could look out their windows into the city they live in and ask some single mother in Anacostia if she felt she was at a significant disadvantage. This money could be better spent, as the girls have stated with education programs, positive images, recreation centers and the like. Well I am not a policy person and do not propose specific solutions, I do not think that reparations should be paid to families now. X generations ago, when free slaves were promised money and never received it, they should have. Now we are simply too far removed from that situation. Does anyone have any specific remedies or recommendations? As depressing as it sounds, America will have to be entirely restructured in order for change.
I certainly agree that instead of reparations in the form of direct check to African American families today is not the best way to go. I think it’s absolutely an issue that should be addressed, however, and that that money should be used, just in a different form as the girls above me have previously posted. There are so many different areas of education and community life that “reparations” (in the collective sense) can be geared too. I think Americans in our generation have a tendency to not realize how close in history slavery and racial segregation is to today. Even in another class of mine, we have discussed significant Supreme Court cases regarded racial discrimination and segregation. There was a case, Cooper v. Aaron that was only decided in 1958 and it was regarded a county in Virginia that went so far as to shut down its public schools and support racially segregated private schools to ensure that white and black children did not go to school together. It just seems absolutely insane to us now but for many of us our parents were already born by then. Though it seems far, slavery and racial segregation is much nearer to us in time than most American people, including myself, can really comprehend. I think compensation for what African American people have gone through and still struggle against in this country today is legal and just. I think it should be directed in the form of college scholarships to African American students who especially come from areas historically known for segregation (i.e. that county in Virginia would be a good example) and even those that have ancestors who were slaves (if it is possible to figure that out for sure). I know, for example, that Florida provides college scholarships to descendants from Rosewood, a black community that was destroyed by crazy white people in the 1920s while the state government stood by and did nothing. I’ve also read that there are people who would like companies who were greatly involved in slavery to deliver some type of reparation. I think that’s also quite just but, again, money to enhance education to me is the best means of reparation. I think its incorrect to blame slavery entirely for modern-day issues like poverty and unemployment. Also, I think the real story of African American people is full of extraordinary achievement in the face of amazingly large obstacles and I think this is overlooked by those who advocate for reparations.
I've grown up in an African American community where the families ranged from upper middle class to lower class, which is like most communities, except in most communities there is a racial divide. I say this because I've never really thought about the impacts of slavery, because I thought that it was normal for there to be economic disparities, but once I left my bubble and came to AU, I realized that most people associated black with poor and that a lot of people came from areas where the middle and upper class were white and the lower class were black.
I then began to think about low-income areas that were majority black. Some of these areas probably have been inhabited by majority African Americans since after slavery and people today still live there, thinking that they can't change their situation.
I feel that I can go so far as to say slavery has affected the self-esteem of African Americans that are in these situations. Since the younger generations see that their parents or grandparents cannot get out of their financial situation and have stayed in the same area all of their life, the younger generations start to feel like they will have the same fate.
I do agree that the education system needs great improvement, but people who are in these situations also need to be empowered into believing that they can make a better life for themselves.
I completely agree with everyone who's commented on this post. It all comes down to education and environment. The impacts of slavery have definitely given way to the education and environment of the black community, but we, as a nation, have got to stop reiterating how big the discrepancies are between "them" and "us", and instead, actually start those reparations in the form of more scholarships, higher teacher wages, more money in the schools and neighborhoods that need it, etc, not to mention an apology from the government. It's not going to solve anything and it's incredibly overdue, but I think we, as a nation, need to apologize in order to address what happened formally and use that apology as a unifier, through the understanding that our government, through the will of the people, will actually start change! And these changes are what is going to make all the difference. Is your child going to live in a lower class neighborhood where no one cares to develop after school activities for her, where she is discouraged everyday by the hopelessness in the people around her, where her teachers don't get paid enough to want to make challenging lesson plans, and college is projected as an impossibility for those of her kind OR will she grow up in a healthy, safe environment, with parents who encourage her and give her hope, teachers who will push her to get that A and apply for that scholarship, and where she has the opportunity to participate in fun activities/jobs/after school programs to keep her out of trouble? If our country takes the right steps in this reparations action, more and more children in our country, no matter if their ancestors were slaves or not, will grow up in neighborhood B and we'll start seeing those painful discrepancies between the races like those we saw in the crack cocaine table start to slowly but surely diminish.
In other words, vote Obama.
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