Money. We all love it. However, who deserves it? Reparations is defined as the making of amends for a wrong one has done, by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged (U.S Dictionary). The Black community has endured many instances of maltreatment and has been traumatized by the experiences of slavery. The article titled The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses the right that Black individuals have to receive reparations. Article quotes that “By our unpaid labor and suffering, we have earned the right to the soil, many times over and over, and now we are determined to have it.”- anonymous, 1861. This clearly demonstrates the suffering and trauma of Black individuals and what many generations went through to get to freedom. Labor, suffering, maltreatment, trauma, and so much modre. Black families were destroyed, eliminated, and abolished. Women were forced to have babies from their white slave owners. Colleges would deny and reject individuals of the Black race, specifically for the color of their skin. The least that any government agency could do, is provide reparations for the Black community to rebuild what was not. And even then, this is still no justice to the continuity of such efforts. Black women remain the most disrespected individuals today.
The United States thrives on the exploration of Black and brown people, while over exhausting them for their own personal gain. Providing little to no help and resources for their communities. So yes, Black people deserve reparations. Why? Their ancestors said so.
Mary Chestnut’s Diary discusses the treatment towards White women at the time. This treatment is completely different to the one that Black women have to experience as a member of the Black race. Such experiences are evident in chapter 16 & 17 that expresses the unfair treatment from both parties. Fredrick Douglas mentions expresses this as well in his work of What to the Slave is the Fourth of July – Discussing to individuals the conditions of slavery and attempting to convince the public to end it for all.
Furthermore, reparations should be given to the Black community for many reasons than one. Medication in the black community during this time was not as advanced as it was in the white community. Individuals would not be treated for diseases nor normal pregnancy. Oftentimes women would have babies with no pain relief medication. Black women specifically were tested and experimented on for the benefit of white Women. So when the question arises in many public forums of whether or not reparations should be given to the black community, I often compare this to doing the bare minimum.
Men were forced to work on hot fields all day and in plantations, picking cotton and other cash crops. While one can argue that this was the norm at the time and seen as morally correct, they have been wronged by their country and wronged by the system of government governing them. To a certain point, one must think to themselves: Am I working for the government? Or is the government working for me? Reparations, why? Their ancestors said so.