We need reparations in the United States.
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We need reparations in the United States.
The protests after the death of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and the start of the ‘Black Lives Matter Movement’ have led to the focus on diversity and inclusion for all ethnic communities in the United States and the whole world. The fight for equality and inclusion has prompted and pushed for the issue of reparations for African Americans due to the enslavement.
Presidential candidates in the recent elections knew that the issue existed, and thus, the problem today is not whether they should be paid. The focus is now on how and by whom they should be paid. Coates (2014), in his article in The Atlantic, provides a brief history of inequalities and discriminations that black Americans have faced and why they need reparations. Individuals such as Frum (2014) say that reparations are impossible because it would expand to other groups such as women and Hispanics since racial and gender composition in the nation is not binary. Frum (2014) also says that there will be a fight and misunderstandings on who qualifies, large and unexpected side effects and that the program legitimacy will fade. Tanner (2019) also raises questions, and one is that the implementation of reparations would exacerbate racial tension in the country.
The issue of whom and how reparations should be paid is a contentious one. I believe that reparations should be paid by providing programs to increase homeownership for African Americans, depositing funds into individual endowments, and providing accounts for the African Americans that would allow direct access to funds. Other nations have done the reparations in different ways, and for this option, both the federal, state, and local governments should contribute to the payment from the taxes and revenues they earn. The government has paid those who have suffered damage from the coronavirus with checks worth $1,200 as part of the CARES Act. Payment of reparations is thus possible.
References
Coates, T. (2014). The Case for Reparations. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
Frum, D. (2014). The Impossibility of Reparations. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/06/the-impossibility-of- reparations/372041/
Tanner, M. D. (2019). The Wrenching Reparations Question. CATO Institute. Retrieved from https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/wrenching-reparations-question