My Two Cents About Reparations

I believe that the president should allow reparations for the descendants of slaves. Hear me out. Here in the United States, the slave trade was used to help bolster a developing economy. Yes, there was an economy prior to slavery, but the slaves were free laborers. One thing a lot of people do not realize is that slaves worked for free. So we are looking at millions of people that worked for free for over 250 years. Take a few steps past 1865, there may have been some former slaves that were being paid, but they got paid far less than  their Caucasian counterparts. My great grandmother, who was born in 1913, told me that she worked at a dry cleaners where her daily wage was $0.13 a day. How can anyone purchase a house, a car, or even afford to take care of their family on an income such as that?

So when I hear about the need for reparations, I say it’s about time. Yes, it is true that there are a lot of African-Americans that have overcome poverty and have achieved great things. Kudos to them and their accomplishments. Their talents helped to propel them out of uncertainty into some form of certainty. But there are so few and far between. We have generations of families that are growing up in poverty and struggling to fight their way out of it. We have generations upon generations of families who are stuck living in public housing because they can not afford anywhere else And I know that it’s up to the individual to want to do better for themselves. However, you don’t know the mindset a person has.

Overall, there are a myriad of obstacles that could have played in the misfortunes of many African Americans living in today’s society. But one way of closing a chapter and ending a centuries’ long debate is for reparations to be given. The United States will end up getting that a large amount of that money back. The government knows it will. But what I think they’re missing out on is that reparations can help people to climb higher because they are being given the opportunity to do so. Many of you know how it feels to own your own home, your own car and not worry about having to pay car note or having to pay Landlord in order for you to be able to have decent shelter. Many of you may not have encountered any challenges in the latter part of your teenage years and was able to go off to college, find employment in that particular field of study and earn a substantial living. Or your talent took you further than you ever dreamed. But there are some of us out there waiting on the day for that proverbial knee to be taken off of our necks. We try so hard to purchase homes, just to be rejected because you can’t get the amount of money needed for a down payment. Or you have the money for a down payment, but your credit is bad because you had to choose life over credit. You may have cleaned up the mistakes you have made, but tell that to a loan officer.

I will leave you with this: reparations should not be looked at as a handout. In the same way we are able to sue a former employer about lost wages, those lost wages that the United States did not pay to slaves should be given to their descendants. It will help to correct a major wrong. I understand why some people say that reparations are not needed and I respect your point of view. However, if grandma Pearl left you her house, her land, and her ‘78 Cadillac to you in her will, you will attempt to collect what your grandmother left you. If the state takes it away and says that it was not hers to begin with, you will fight. You will fight hard for your deceased loved one because you know that she worked hard for everything that she had. You’ve heard of the sacrifices she made and how her hard work was all for the right for her family not to have to worry or struggle. And you fight as hard as you can, but at every turn the courts agree with the state. In that scenario, will you be so willing to allow your grandmother’s legacy to be handed over to the state to do as they wish or are you going to continue to fight for what you feel is right? If you’re able to understand that scenario, then you should be able to understand why the topic of reparations continuously comes up in conversation and why we are hearing about it more and more nowadays. OK, I’m done with my two cents.