As the war is increasing between Russia and Ukraine, Many people in the black community are paying close attention due to the fact that gas prices and food are on the rise. With all this going on, it has sparked interest in this country once again on the topic of reparations for blacks.
This has many African Americans revisiting Ta-Nehisi Coates’s article “The Case for Reparations” Written eight years ago, the article details redlining and housing discrimination through the lenses of people who have experienced it.
This has posed the question, will blacks ever get reparations? My answer is the same as the majority of many blacks, to put it plain and simple. “No.” Ta-Nehisi Coates stated, “Every institution with some degree of history in America, be it public, be it private, has a history of extracting wealth and resources out of the African-American community.”
Amidst all of the oppression that black has faced for hundreds of years, there has always been some type of theft tied to it. We can go as far back as June 19, 1865. known as Juneteenth, In Galveston Texas when slaves finally realized that slavery had been abolished through the Emancipation Proclamation. The freed slaves never got their 40 Acres and a Mule that was promised to them.
We can also look back at Black Wall Street. On May 31st, 1921 in Tulsa Oklahoma in the Greenwood district, the thriving black community that was so prosperous was torched and burned down overnight, known as one of the deadliest massacres ever against blacks.
Blacks have always had to bear the brunt of hellacious acts committed against them. It’s very disheartening, especially since this country was built off the backs and sweat of our ancestors.
African Americans have always been disrespected, whether it’s through police brutality, housing discrimination, or flat-out racism. Even the term African American is used to distinguish whites apart from blacks. You never hear anyone say white Americans.
We just use the term Americans, so why must we say African Americans or Asian Americans. There has been a reparations bill sitting on the table in Congress for over 30 years waiting to be passed.
When asked about this bill, Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell offered a familiar reply, stating that the United States should not be responsible for something that happened 150 years ago since none of them were alive when it happened.
This response holds no merit to me when it comes to the lack of accountability that America hides from. If McConnell’s statement is true, then why are we still paying out pensions to the heirs of Civil War soldiers and honoring treaties that were signed over 200 years ago, when none of them were alive during that time. The stench of mental abuse from slavery still reigns prevalent to this day.
You have to think, there was once upon a time when blacks weren’t either considered human beings. You can find this 3/5 Clause in Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States. As our mindset and attitude begin to change in the black community. America wants its black citizens to fight for a country that won’t recognize them. So once again to answer the question: Will blacks ever get reparations? It’s highly unlikely.