This background information is often times looked over but the African Americans went though a lot more than serving their masters and picking cotton. We, as Americans, went into another country and forced Africans on ships packed away in quarters much like the Jews went though during the Holocaust during World War II. They had minimal room, hardly any food or water and the water given was often times contaminated with disease or left over from the crew. They often stood and even slept in feces or bodily fluids because there wasn’t a bathroom. When someone died they did not remove the body; they left it there and sometimes it would be up to week or months before the body was removed.
Whether it is black history month celebrating and recognizing the diversity in which an entire race went though. Recognizing what particular leaders accomplished in their admiration and devotion to a race in order to seek equality. Seeing people stand up for what they believe and seeing them overcome the adversity whether it was segregation the Ku Klux Klan or rioters trying to destroy a race in its entirety. This is how we got to the point of reparations and how they should be dealt with accordingly.
These reparations are forms of compensation in which we try to fix a mistake or repay a country or a race for the hardships and devastation which they endured. I believe that reparations are not about just handing out money to millions of blacks and calling that an apology, but rather recognizing a mistake and correcting it. Reparations for African Americans have become a hot topic in the last thirty years. I believe that blacks should receive reparations for slavery, but not in the form of cash settlements. There are several options for how the government should pay the African Americans for their role in building the United States and all of their burdens in the process. The idea of reparations for a particular group in the United States did not begin with African Americans.
One particular culture has received some sort of reparation for ill treatment from the government. In 1987, The Japanese received a cash settlement in the amount of $1.2 billion from the U.S. government for the internment camps during and after World War II. Many African Americans saw this and wondered if it were now possible for the government to acknowledge and take responsibility for its misguided past decisions. During that period of time, the Japanese contribution to the United States could not be compared to the African Americans. In addition, not a single Japanese life was lost during the duration of the camps, yet million of blacks died from the beginning of slavery in the United States to its end. I feel that reparations for blacks are long past due. I do not see the equality. The government should focus on repairing race relations in America, but favoring one group over another only makes it worse. It cannot simply put a dollar amount on someone’s pain, then turn to the next person, shrug its shoulders and walk away. Blacks deserve to be compensated for the government’s neglect.
The reparations should be divided into forms that will have a positive impact on black communities. I believe that giving checks to black communities that are below the poverty line will not benefit them in the end. Instead, the government should set up scholarship funds for any age African American student that wishes to attend a public or a private college. This will ensure that they have the support they need to help them achieve a higher education. Once they go through college and formal training, they will be able to return to their communities and really do some good. They can make the changes as they see fit, rather than the government mandating the use of resources. In addition, public schools, and the poorest black communities should receive grants from the government for after school activities, school supplies, and educational resources. Not limiting the benefits at school, black communities should also receive grants. With these government grants, the communities can fix decrepit homes or demolish them and build new homes if they are unfixable. They can also create safe and friendly neighborhoods for children, create low cost clinics in which doctors from neighboring towns or even doctors within their communities can even work at. They can take additional money left over and build libraries or city facilities such as recreational centers or parks so the community can use it at their will free of charge.
Reparations would be a way for the government to make amends with the African American community. Many blacks today still feel that the government has not owned up to its responsibility for slavery, which has been the root for many, cruel acts committed against them. Though reparations would not be erasing old wounds, it would show the black community that they do matter and that the government has not forgotten them. While the government has apologized for slavery, the daily lives of most blacks have not been changed by these empty words; some do not even know that an apology was even offered. Words are hollow unless they are met with action. Blacks feel that they lack the same respect that other groups receive, and the government should want to change that. If they are even partly responsible in shaping and building America, then why are they being denied their fair compensation? Race relations need to be strengthened, and that all begins with making changes.
With reparations in the form of grants rather than cash, the money will go to much needed areas within the black community. A sense of equality can be established among blacks that feel that they were pushed to the back burner while other groups were viewed more important than they were. Young black youth and underprivileged would be able to give way to their own future and label themselves as they wish. Society would not be able to stick a label on them and tell them they will never reach the dreams in which they desire. The government has formally apologized for slavery, reparations would then begin to fix the damages that it has caused, and a greater step into making amends will finally take place. It is time for African Americans to receive the respect they earned and deserve.
I think reparations are wonderful and a way to replenish what a country destroyed whether it was dignity or an entire community. But in order for these to work they have to be properly implemented and issued. Forgiveness just does not happen overnight we as a whole need to break the color barrier and in so doing so, help all those in need.