Before I quit twitter (note: since writing this I have rejoined twitter),I made a promise to post about this subject over the summer. Between summer classes and working on my “geometric lens” math project, I've been trying to work on this piece, too. I like to think I keep my promises.
This might be a controversial post that may end up adversely affecting my life-goals and ...well, maybe my life in general... but I think my approach to this subject is fair and I hope people on all sides of the issue who read this agree it's a fair approach.
The subject of this blog entry is: Reparations for the descendants of those people who were brought from Africa to be slaves in America.
I'll start by giving a (very) brief background for those who aren't at all familiar with the subject, and then form there I’ll delve into my opinion on some possible methods of enacting a reparations programme, and end with some potential roadblocks any reparations plan will inevitably run into.
Section 1: Some background.
What are “reparations”? The phrase, in this blog entry, applies specifically to a form of payment to compensate the descendants of those people who were brought from Africa to be slaves in America. The “forty acres and a mule” promise (which was never fulfilled) could be considered a model for reparations. I suggest the reader click the Wikipedia link and peruse the page on the subject. The payment of reparations to a group unfairly treated in America is not an unheard-of idea. America has undertaken programmes to give groups such as the victims of Japanese internment during WWII and Native Americans some form of reparations (whether or not those programmes significantly repaid the victims for those damages is a subject for people who have more familiarity with those specific grievances, and won't be covered here).
Henceforth, “reparations to the descendants of African-American slaves” will be referred to simply as “reparations”.
Throughout my lifetime, I've heard various ideas and versions on how reparations should be paid.:
Some are unrealistic economically (e.g.; the idea of giving every black person in America $1million dollars is just not possible).
Some are unrealistic in an actual, physical way (e.g.; sticking to the literal 40 acres plan just wouldn't work, given our country's landmass-to-person ratio and other land area usage issues).
Some are just downright racist (e.g.; racists who say welfare and/or Affirmative Action are already a form of reparations for slavery.....they're not. White people are the largest racial group receiving welfare, and Affirmative Action isn't black-specific by any means, so neither actually address the subject of descendants-of-slavery-specific reparations.)
I'm not going to write a “history and impact of the reparations conversation” essay here. I encourage the interested reader to seek out other material relating to the subject. There's plenty of literature out there that covers that conversation and history of the subject; all written by people who actually specialize in history and anthropology and sociology and economics and all of those applicable fields; people who devote lifetimes to the subject. I'm just a guy splitting time between writing a quick opinion-based blog entry and working on a much more time-consuming paper, in the sense that it’s related to my actual field (pure, abstract mathematics doesn't have a lot of overlap with the type of research involved in giving an account of the history of this subject).
With that, I'll end section 1 and move into the meat of my opinion piece.
Section 2: Possible approaches to the payment of reparations
I'm simply going to list a few possible solutions I've thought about over the years, with some explanation and opinion and caveats for each individual point. I think that every point on the list is reasonable, with some more feasible than others.
Before I start my list, I'm going to give a few (very) soft statistics/general caveats that cover all of the points.
Stats:
- There are anywhere from about 36 million to 42 million people of African descent in America. The number varies depending on what amount of genetic percentage of black African DNA one chooses to define as an appropriate amount to be considered “true African-American” (in my opinion, anyone with genetic make up of less than 25% African would be ineligible, or at least given a smaller reparations settlement than someone with 25% or more genetic match up) .
- Unless I misread, according to the USDA, the nation-wide average price of an acre of land as of 2017 (developed or not) was $3,080. I'm going to round that number to $3,000 and multiply it by 40, to give $120,000 per person in every one of the hypothetical reparations repayment programmes/points that I'll list below.
- I'm going to round the African American population to 40 million, so approximately somewhere closer to the high end of the “36-to-42 million” range. This means that paying out $120,000 to 40 million people, which would cost about $4.8 trillion. None of the hypothetical scenarios involve paying that whole amount in 1 fell swoop. It would be impossible to actually pay out that amount, in full or incrementally, on any and every level. The goal here is to be realistic without sacrificing the “substantial” part of “a substantial repayment that America owes to the descendants of slaves”.
- Remember: the price tag above does NOT include the money you would have to pay to actually run the programme(s) that distribute reparations; person-hours, technology costs, legal fees, etc. All of that has to be paid for, too.
3 Hypothetical scenarios for repayment of reparations:
- Up to $120,000 total (per person) to cover both college (or trade school) tuition as well as living expenses while attending a college/trade programme. “College” should be interpreted as including grad school. Pay out the balance of whatever is left after successful completion of the degree. This type of programme seems most similar to what Native-American and Japanese-American people were given in their reparations packages. I think this model is probably the most economically feasible, and is pretty bullet-proof in the courts given the historical precedent. Most people will not use the full $120,000 in 4 years, so it definitely doesn't get paid out all at once one way or the other. This payment scenario also seems most fair-minded since, as stated above, it most closely resembles the reparations packages given to other wronged groups. There's historical precedent to consider when undertaking this kind of endeavor. For those who are older (especially ages 65+), this amount could cover living expenses while taking any kind of classes in a non-degree programme (e.g.; a piano class and a tai chi class at a community college). A type of retirement package, if you will.
- $120,000 (per person) in credits toward buying a house and/or property. There could also be an option to use all or part of that credit to open a business. The only problem here is the risk of too many people cashing in a full reparations check/voucher/whatever at once, and we'd be uncomfortably close to that “$4.6 trillion…all at once” scenario. Still, if the cost of paying for a house and/or business could be paid incrementally with a no-to-very-low interest rate, the “$4.6 trillion all-at-once” scenario is avoidable, and the economic benefits of home/business-ownership would (potentially) be fantastic for the nation as a whole.
- A hybridization of the 2 previous scenarios. The good parts of the first two scenarios play out here, but this route would definitely cost a lot more money to run from a bureaucratic point of view. There would have to be some sort of distribution system (obviously) for either of the 1st two points. Point one would probably go through Dept. of Education, while point 2 would have to go through HUD (or some such programme) for housing AND whatever department the government uses to work with businesses. This point would require at least all three of those departments (and so many others) to work in concert, which would be…. tricky.
I know there are other scenarios that could be (and have been) devised. The three listed above just seem the most realistic to me.
Section 3: Potential Problems, Arguments Against Reparations, and Rebuttals to Those Arguments
Some of the bigger potential problems, in my opinion, with respect to the idea of reparations are as follows:
- Difficulty in determining if the programme would be finite (over one generation or short-term inter-generational), or if it would be a perpetual programme.
- Whether or not there should be a cap, which is to say a maximum amount of income or savings that a person might have that would make them ineligible to receive payments. For instance, would a multimillionaire like Beyonce be eligible, or not? I think that's a particularly tricky question/problem since someone making millions isn't really going to gain anything from an extra $120,000, be it in cash or education credits, or both. But at the same time, their family, over the course of generations, most certainly underwent the hardships that go with the racist slavery and post-slavery culture in America that reparations are meant to address. Maybe they can benefit by receiving a tax break by donating the reparations money thye're entitled to to college funds or housing funds? It's one of the more sensitive/tricky topics to discuss, to be sure.
- The most obvious problem with a reparations programme is public perception and acceptance of such a programme. I'm going to address this point more in depth in what follows below.
- Eventually someone will bring up the question: “What about convicted felons? Do they get reparations?” It’s a fair question. I think it’s obvious that a lot of people are locked up on trumped up felony charges for racist reasons (e.g.; people getting felony weed possession convictions for having a dime in their pocket on the way to a house part…somethign that's usually a misdemeanor, at most, for non-black [and non-Latino] people). For crimes like rape, murder…actual violent offenses that destroy lives…I’d probably draw the line. Obviously, if a charged party’s conviction is overturned, that person would/should be eligible for reparations. But to me…any crime that's not one of those extreme offenses (e.g.; rape, murder, high level narcotic trafficking [substances like heroin or cocaine]) shouldn’t automatically disqualify someone from receiving a reparations package. Maybe, for people returning after time served for less-extreme, but still violent crimes (e.g.; domestic abuse, armed robbery), there could be an option to use a small chunk of their reparations for a rehab/social adjustment programme, and then be eligible to use the remainder for the above proposed school/life expenses programme. For things like minor drug charges (e.g.; possession of less than an ounce of anything), petty theft (e.g.; shoplifting), or stupid made-up stuff black people get locked up for like “repeat offense loitering” or “asking a question”….there shouldn’t be any issue with giving those people hassle-free reparations, in my opinion.
I know the conversation about reparations isn't particularly popular. I've heard/read a lot of arguments against it (even from within the African-American community). The two most common arguments I hear against it are: 1) “Well I wasn't alive, so why should I have to pay?” and 2) “Well my ancestors came from ___ as indentured servants, so why don't I get reparations?”
To answer 2), I'll say indentured servitude was NOT the same thing as slavery. At all. For one, it was a choice. Slavery was not (no matter what nonsense comes out of Kanye West's mouth). People coming to America as indentured servants could have just as easily stayed in their native country, but they chose indentured servitude as a way to have their passage to America and American citizenship. Indentured servitude was also NOT inter-generational. Once a person acting as an indentured servant was free from their (again, voluntary) bonds, so were the members of their family. No such luxury was afforded to slaves. Even freed slaves, almost universally, had to leave their family behind to remain as slaves in many, if not most, cases. Families only stayed together if the freed slave(s) had enough money to buy the freedom of the rest of their family. I'm not implying indentured servitude wasn't demeaning or horrible...but I AM stating that it was NOT the same thing as slavery.
To answer 1), I want to say “I won't even dignify that with a response”, but it's easily the most common argument against reparations that I've heard/read. So, it should be addressed, albeit briefly (again, I urge the reader to seek out literature/resources that are more thought out). If you live in America today, you're reaping the benefits of slave labour, no matter how indirectly. In the most indirect sense, you’re benefitting simply by the fact that, without slave labour, America's economy would have almost definitely completely collapsed (in a “cataclysmic, end of the road” kind of way) long before the idea to have a Civil War was conceived by anybody.
Sect 4: Conclusion and Parting Thoughts and Opinions
Personally, I prefer the 3rd reparations package option given above. In a perfect world, the bureaucracy would be a fluid and efficient system. We don’t live in a perfect world, unfortunately.
So, realistically, the 1st option is probably the best way to go. I think it’s a good compromise, all in all. It’s maybe not what people want, but I personally believe any wise use of a reparations package would involve education. There’s always talk about “generational wealth”, and the gap between races in terms of generational wealth. To me, in my opinion, this is addressed by education. Even $1 million to every African-American descendant of slavery wouldn’t ensure any kind of lasting generational wealth. At the end of the day, $1 million isn't as much as it seems. But education gives you a firmer ladder to climb up to get to that point where you’re making your wealth generational. Even if the first generation is going to trade school and getting, say, a certification to be an auto mechanic…. I’m saying, an auto mechanic makes more than a minimum wage worker at a fast food place or where-ever. And if you know your kids are going to get free college, you can save more of that bigger paycheck. And then your kids will have a better, more comfortable life and might go to a four-year college and get, say, a finance degree and make even better wages, and then their kids might go on to be engineers or professors or what have you. And then you’ve created generational wealth. The better the education, the better the job. The less debt you have after college, the more flexibility you have. For example, you can negotiate for a slightly lower wage than someone with massive debt, and thus be more attractive a hire for the employer. That’s flexibility.
I know the “pay out the balance after successful completion of the degree programme” part might be the most controversial part of the 1st option. But I think it’s a fair deal for everyone. Using the auto-mechanic example again…say someone finishes an auto-mechanic certification programme in 3 years. With living expenses and tuition expenses paid, after three years they might have…like $60,000? The $60,000 can tide someone over while they look for a job, or (better yet) could be used to start a business. Which usually helps the general economy. So everyone wins.
I also, personally, believe that education leads to the type of jobs that will increase African-American voices/influence in American society. I believe, for example, that the water crisis in Flint might have been completely avoided had there been even a few Black civil engineers working on the water system projects on their inception. I believe that having more African-American lawyers would result in fewer African-Americans being convicted of made-up crimes. I believe that having more African-Americans in fields like accounting and tax law will help keep money in African-Americans' hands. Cash is great, until it's gone.
$120,000 isn’t a lot…or enough… in my opinion. But it’s fair, based on the “40 acres and a mule” promise. And it can be done in a way that won’t ravage the fragile nature of our State/Federal economic structure, but rather give it some added strength.
Obviously, there’s some tough questions that have to be answered. I listed a few above (e.g.; is it a perpetual inter-generational thing, or a one-or-two generational thing). There are, I’m sure, other (maybe even better) questions.
Even more obviously, there will be people (on both the pro and con side of the reparations conversation) who would hate any of my 3 proposed scenarios listed above. Nothing was ever going to (or will ever) make EVERYONE happy. But reparations have to happen, and they have to be realistic. There’s compromise in everything, even if you get everything you wanted.
I also want to make sure it’s clear that I consider $120,000/person the bare minimum amount to pay out. If any payment programme were implemented as a “1-generation only” thing, I would put the number much closer to $500,000, with the complete balance after obtaining a degree to be paid out in increments into trusts (hopefully ensuring some level of inter-generational benefit).In this scenario, I believe that there should be no withdrawal penalty if/when money is withdrawn from the trust.