Reparations for slavery has been discussed since the Civil War when General Sherman want to give former slaves 40 acres and a mule. President Andrew Johnson vetoed that idea and returned previously seized land back to the previous southern owners. The only reparations for slavery paid at that time where to slave owners due to their property loss when their slaves became free men and women. The topic of reparations came up again in 1894 when a bill was introduced to the U.S. Senate that would offer pension to each former slave and their children. This bill failed in committee. During the 1980’s a call for reparations ended up securing U.S. Government funds: $500 million for Sioux Indian tribes for seizure of their tribal lands; $1.25 billion for Japanese-Americans interned during World War II. While there have been many discussions since, none have resulted in a successful argument for reparations for slavery. Both sides have argued their points and neither side has decided to come up with a plausible solution. I have discovered that the mere mention of the word reparations renders a visceral response. There are a lot of people that vehemently deny the need for making amends for slavery and even more that refuse to believe the concept of continued affects of slavery.
The common misconception is slavery ended when Lincoln freed the slaves. The Civil War was fought to end slavery and established equality in this Country. All people were given the same advantages when the 13th amendment was ratified and dredging up the past with reparation talks only dredges up racial disparity. All people had their own fate in their hands by the decisions they made throughout life. Frankly, I am embarrassed to say that my thoughts and understanding emulated the white world around me. Why should I have to pay for something my family did not participate in? Members of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland submitted a resolution to its annual convention that would give $1 million to the Union of Black Episcopalians. To me, that sounded a lot like throwing money at a situation to ease a conscience rather the fix a problem. I could think of better things to do with that money and thought the reparations idea was too complicated to simply give money to another non-profit organization. So, In the beginning, this project started with the hypothesis that slavery was in the past and was a settled topic drudged up by people that simply need to blame something for their choices in life. What I found disproved this hypothesis rather than supported it. It was mind boggling to say the least.
The research started with reading everything about slavery, the reconstruction period, the civil rights movement, redress, reparations, mass incarceration, and even the Nazi party and America’s role in the Holocaust. I spent afternoons in the library. Not only is there access to a sizable amount of information but the WIFI and air conditioning is great as well.
Next was the development of a website and a blog that eventually pushed to social media. Never having blogged before, setting up a blog was a learning experience. Bluehost and WordPress are wonderful tools for people that do not know what they are doing. I learned that it is important to check one’s typing when creating a blog. The website ended up being callforrepatrations.com because both the t and r buttons were pressed and the same time and this was not caught before pressing send. Face Book allows “ads” to be boosted across a wide variety of audiences. At first, the articles were “boosted” locally. This limited the discussion sample group since sub-cultures beliefs tend to mirror geographical boundaries. Having several “likes” is morale building but doesn’t start a meaningful discussion. The audience required expansion if the hypothesis was to be vented properly. Strong debates are interesting, and seeds of knowledge are sown with every post. Both liberal and conservative States were added to the group with hopes that both sides of the debate would be well represented. The “boost” included States from East to West, North to South.
Museums are great places to do research. Traveling, by Amtrak train, to Birmingham Alabama and then by car to Montgomery, brought even more visions to my mind. The National Peace and Justice Museum, in Montgomery Alabama, gave insight into the lynching epidemic in this Country where 4000 men, women, and children were lynched between 1877 and 1950, the recorded timeline for the Equal Justice Initiative but not the end of lynching. I walked where slaves walked in chains. I stood on the site where slaves were sold away from their families. I visualized historic plantations where people of color were enslaved. The Legacy Museum, also in Montgomery Alabama, told the story from slavery to today’s mass incarceration. Birmingham Alabama is the home for the Civil Rights Institute. CRI sits directly across the street from the 16th Street Baptist Church and Kelly Ingram Park. The 16th Street Baptist Church is the place the KKK bombed resulting in the death of four little girls. Kelly Ingram Park was the site where children were removed with water cannons so much force that skin would rip. It was also the place where Martin Luther King Junior marched in opposition to Jim Crow laws and discrimination with the civil right movement in 1960’s.
The visits to the museums and Institute were sobering and mind opening. Returning to Maryland, I browsed through the State Achieves where slaves were listed on property records as livestock. Slaves were ship out of Baltimore to go south to furnish cheap labor for the quickly expanding cotton business. Spending the afternoon writing at Old House Winery in Culpepper Virginia, there was no doubt that slave labor once worked this land. The plush green fields now grassy and unkept could easily have been full of slave labor in the 1800’s. The African American Cultural Museum in Washington DC and the Holocaust Museum were also on the list of places to visit. Among the various exhibits at the African American Cultural Museum is the body of Emmett Till, a fourteen year old African American young man who was brutally beaten and killed by two white supremest. His mother insisted on a glass casket to show people the brutality inflicted on her son. A single conclusion crossed my mind but the end of the summer of 2018, our high school history books did not teach us the whole truth about the sins of our country. Written between the book covers was a one-sided truth that only claimed the good side of the United States. America was a wonderful and glorious Country that would sweep in and save the day just like a knight on a white horse.
What happened on this blog since its conception disproved the hypotheses in a grand way. Slavery is not a thing of the past and laws do not mandate morality. You can’t legislate evil out of the world. However, I am not going to say that reparations are owed because slaves worked for free or because the laws of this land prevented African Americans from obtaining wealth when they were freed from slavery. I profess the reason for reparations is because slavery has continued to be practiced in this country and legally enforced. Systemic racism has become so much the status quo that people cannot see it even if it is display in front of them. In the beginning, this book was to explain the rational for reparations. Teach readers the untold or uncomfortable truth of system racism. Plans changed. There are a lot of books written on this subject already and many are part of this book’s reference list. Reading books is a choice and people who wanted to know more on this subject would pick up a book and read. As I worked on my blog, I discovered the proof that I needed to explain the systemic racism, white privilege, existing racism, and selective ignorance. While people do not always like to read a book, social media is always a draw. So, this project because a social experiment of sorts.
This unintended social experiment is not a scientific rendering of what a selected group and control group would judge on the topic. There isn’t statistical data showing what part of the population wanted reparations. That was not the design. What started as a conversation on information gathered turnout to be an intentional blog that was boosted to various areas of the Country where participants had only two things in common. One, they all had Face Book, and two, they all like to voice their opinion. The following chapters are the blog posts, the Face Book chatter, and a summary of lessons learned in the process.