What is reparations?

Reparations are a program of acknowledgement, redress and closure for a grievous injustice. Where American Freedmen are concerned, the grievous injustices that make the case for reparations include slavery, legal segregation (Jim Crow), and ongoing discrimination and stigmatization.

How much does America owe the American Freedmen?

Truly, no price tag can be put upon the severely harsh treatment and conditions that those who have been labeled "Black Americans" have endured in the United States. However, if you compare two Congressional actions, that being the Homestead Act of 1862 and the first reparations directive for the Freedmen (General Sherman's Special Field Orders No. 15), two things become apparent:

  1. The promise of 40 acres and a mule never reached capacity and those Freedmen who did receive their allotments, had them revoked by then President Andrew Johnson, a Confederate sympathizer. This began a process of prohibiting the Freedmen from building intergenerational wealth to be passed down to their progeny. The long term multigenerational effect is the Freedmen are beset with persistent financial crises that contribute to limited opportunity to participate in American political and economic life, greater danger from the criminal justice system, poorer physical and mental health, and few resources to bequeath to their children.

  2. In contrast, the Homestead Act provided more than 250 million acres of land in the western territories not only to White Americans, ultimately including those who had fought against the United States on behalf of the Confederacy, but also recent White immigrants. One and a half million white families were granted 160 acre land patents under the policy. Not only did the United States government set up White Americans with land and opportunity, but, simultaneously Black Americans were denied even the promised 40 acres land grants — only one-quarter of the acreage given to whites.

William Darity Jr., the leading socio-economist on the topic of reparations, and folklorist A. Kirsten Mullen, give what many view as the clearest monetary breakdown of what is owed the American Freedmen in America:

"We view the black-white wealth gap as a blight on the nation. While the 40 million eligible recipients of black reparations constitute about 12 percent of the American population, they possess less than 2 percent of the nation's wealth. This translates into an average (or mean) differential, per household, of about ,000 in net worth. Ultimately, a well-designed reparations program could have a powerful impact on producing greater wealth equality among black Americans. Consider the median-to-mean ratio. Suppose all black households received an additional ,900 to make up for the mean deficit. As of 2019, the black median-to-mean ratio per household was ,100/,200 or approximately 13 percent. If the black mean rises to the same level as the white mean through the provision of an additional ,900 to each black household, the black median-to-mean ratio would change dramatically to ,900/,400, or approximately 87 percent." — William A. Darity Jr. & A. Kirsten Mullen, From Here to Equality

Essentially, this breaks down to around ,000 per household for the American Freedmen. Ideally, these payments would be distributed to each eligible Freedman over a 10-year period — amounting to ,000 per year in weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly direct payments. This will close, directly, the wealth gap with respect to household net worth.

Is reparations only about money?

Many people falsely believe that reparations are solely about cash payments. A true reparations program involves much more than direct monetary payments. Direct payments are only one of the elements of a true reparations package. The total cost of repairing the full harms (education, financial, social, etc.) could reach into the quadrillions — however, that should not be confused with the amount due in direct cash payments. That money which comprises the other elements of a whole or true reparations package will go into programs and the things necessary to repair the generations of accrued harms and disadvantages that began in slavery and then grew exponentially worse thereafter.

Who is eligible?

With "slaves" and "slavery" being such broad and inclusive terms, we concluded that the legal status term applied to our emancipated ancestors — "Freedmen" — would not only be a better identifier, but a perfect way to disaggregate the people called "Black" in America. There is no ambiguity attached to a name embedded in the historical records and legislation of the United States. From the Freedmen's Bureau to the Freedmen's Saving Bank, this name clears up any confusion insofar as "who should get it" is concerned.

Whites whose ancestors may have been indentured servants did not suffer the same fate as those labeled "Negroes" — the Freedmen — after slavery was legally ended. Those who have immigrated from Africa and the Caribbean islands would not be eligible for reparations specifically for America's Freedmen, in the same way Chinese-Americans were not eligible for the reparations America paid to Japanese-Americans.

The Freedmen Criteria

The Office of Management and Budget issues a disclaimer in its Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 with regard to racial classifications: "These classifications should not be interpreted as being scientific or anthropological in nature, nor should they be viewed as determinants of eligibility for participation in any Federal program." The United Sons and Daughters of Freedmen are developing criteria that will include science and/or anthropology, in conjunction with descent from at least one emancipated ancestor in the United States bearing the status of Freedman.

Will reparations blow up the national debt?

Absolutely not. When President Barack Obama signed the billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the national debt did not blow up. Nobody's personal taxes were raised. The cost of food and products did not rise to offset any national deficit. When coronavirus relief packages were passed over the course of 2020, .5 trillion were budgeted with trillion allocated — not a dime was raised in taxes. The United States of America is a sovereign nation printing its own money. This means the country can never go broke in the conventional sense. The U.S. is well equipped to issue reparations to the Freedmen without increasing the national debt or raising anyone's taxes.

When America paid reparations to many Indian nations and Japanese Americans in 1989, fears of blowing up the national debt were never argued at the lengths some are taking it now that American Freedmen are seeking repair.

Conclusion

Reparations is the only way that American Freedmen will be able to live life with liberty while pursuing happiness in this country — a country whose economic power was created by the free labor of the Freedmen's slave ancestors. It is projected that by the year 2053, Black American wealth will fall to zero at the median. If this steady decline is not reversed by direct reparations payments, a large majority of American Freedmen will be reduced to a homeless class.

To summarize: Reparations equals Payments, Policies, and Protections.

Suggested Reading Materials

  1. From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century — A. Kirsten Mullen and William A. Darity Jr.
  2. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America — Richard Rothstein
  3. The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap — Mehrsa Baradaran
  4. When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America — Ira Katznelson
  5. The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy — Stephanie Kelton
Tags
Reparations Constitutional Law American Freedmen Wealth Gap 40 Acres