The issue of reparations for slavery is one that has interested me for a time. My interest was piqued last year when Harpers had a feature round-table discussion on the issue by some of the nation's prominent class-action lawyers and how one might mount a case for reparations. Soon after, the official commission was formed to prosecute the issue. What seems to be getting lost is the question of whether these reparations have already been made. The concept seems almost impossible to comprehend. I naturally assume no effort has ever been truly made to make reparations. Of course, if I go looking for a bill in Congress marked "Reparations for Slavery" I would pass by some truly landmark pieces of legislation that have sought to do just that without the pretty wrapping. John McWhorter writes an elegant essay on the issue of reparations while admonishing the book The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks by Randall Robinson as misguided tripe. The article is long and worth printing out and taking to a cafe to read so that you can take the time to appreciate it in full. Having previously seen the logic of the case (in substance) for reparations, I am moving away from the idea that such a case has any standing. An honest look at the state of race in this country is something I would like to see and need to seek out.
- posted by levinson @ 7/17/2001 09:41:00 AM