The Case for Reparations

At first glance, I assumed “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates would outline a plan for reparations based on slavery and the suffering that black people have endured for hundreds of years, and to a certain extent, that was true. Based on my reading and the discussions of the article in class, it primarily described how reparations are a difficult issue and the experiences that have led up to why they should be established and basic ideas of where they could be focused on. However, one part of the article stood out for me beyond anything else that was said: the last section. Instead of ending the article with “An America that looks away is ignoring not just the sins of the past but the sins of the present and the certain sins of the future. More important than any single check cut to any African American, the payment of reparations would represent America’s maturation out of the childhood myth of its innocence into a wisdom worthy of its founders.”, a very well-crafted concluding line to summarize the discussion and almost call the reader to action, Coates concludes his article by giving very large scale and recent examples of how black people today are still being taken advantage of. The last few paragraphs essentially described how American banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America have targeted black people in giving them subprime loans and had to settle discrimination lawsuits because of this. One of the worst aspects of these events is that they only took place about 9 to 15 years ago. It’s terrible to see simply racist events occurring at this large of a scale in today’s world, and it truly calls into question how necessary reparations actually are. One would think that issues of racism and discrimination should have ended in the 20th century, but no, they seem to still be in practice today. It’s infuriating, at least to me, that a potential solution like the HR 40 Bill still cannot even get passed considering that it’s only a study and not enacting much major change by itself. Nevertheless, the American system both through private companies and the government is to blame along with many other factors for the continued unjust treatment of black people. Although I can’t say that I have contributed much to a larger scale effort in systematic change myself, it is still disappointing that the people that have more influence in many of these issues refuse to help in the efforts to at least study the possible solutions involved in reparations. Maybe the solutions aren’t a set amount of money, and they may not consist of anything tangible at all, but without any actual search for a solution, racial injustices will continue without major punishment in the United States. This point was argued in the article as well, but I still find it worth reiterating considering how important it is, along with much of the whole article’s message about reparations in general.