Why Reparations are Essential to America's Future

Reparations for Black American Communities through Educational Reform

Research Questions

This study was guided by three main research questions as follows:

1. Are the black descendants of slaves in the United States today entitled to reparations for their ancestors’ bondage and the uncompensated financial contributions they made to the development of the United States as a nation?

2. If so, in what ways can education reform serve as reparation for black communities?

Rationale for and Significance of the Research Study

Notwithstanding the failed promise of “40 acres and a mule” as a form of early reparations, the United States as a nation has done little otherwise to compensate the modern descendants of the African slaves who were relocated to this country against their will and forced to perform backbreaking work for the rest of their lives in return for their bare subsistence. Moreover, even the children of these original slaves – and their children and their children and their children – were born into a life of bondage that few people today can conceptualize (Africans in America, 2022).

The payment of reparations today will provide some modicum of justice to the millions of African slaves and their descendants after decades of debater and delays is fundamental to the founding principles of the American experiment. Indeed, the concept of ensuring “justice” for all Americans is the first of objective stated in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice . . . do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” In other words, the Founding Fathers believed that justice for all was an essential part of any democratic republic, and they codified this belief in the Declaration before any others.

Therefore, research initiatives that seek to identify appropriate strategies for delivering equitable justice to the millions of black American descendants of slaves represents an important enterprise in order to make America truly whole, most especially since public opinion in the United States in favor of reparations has never been greater (. In this regard, Coates (2014) emphasizes that, “Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole” (para. 4). In sum, the payment of reparations to the modern descendants of slaves will be a significant step towards racial justice and reconciliation which are desperately needed in the United States today.

Description of the Methodology Used in the Study

The study employed a systematic and critical review of the relevant literature to develop the preliminary findings which are discussed further below. This methodology is consistent with the guidance provided by Gratton and Jones (2010) who advise that a comprehensive review of the relevant literature is an essential part of any scholarly enterprise today.

Description of the Setting/Context

The setting of the study was the United States at present. The context of the study concerned the need to respond to calls for racial equity and justice by people of all races and stations in life to fulfill the nation’s constitutional guarantees of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all its citizens.

Description of the Methods of Data Collection

Public and university library resources including JSTOR and EBSCOHost were consulted to locate high quality peer-reviewed and scholarly articles that were appropriate for inclusion in the literature review and analysis.

Description of the Methods of Data Analysis

The research proceeded in a step-wise fashion, beginning with a preliminary review of the literature to identify the key arguments in support of the payment of reparations to the modern descendants of African slaves and the corresponding recurring themes these resources reflected as discussed further below.

Findings with Supporting Data for Each Theme

Three main themes were identified during the research: 1) the payment of reparations is right, appropriate and long overdue (Ray & Perry, 2020); 2) public opinion in favor of reparations in the form of some type of educational reforms has never been greater (Darity & Mullen, 2022); and 3) the reparational initiatives provided by the recommended educational reforms (e.g., increased funding for black-majority schools; increased curriculum options; and the provision of school vouchers in certain cases) will benefit all students regardless of their race (Colgren & Sappington, 2015).

Discussion – Preliminary Analysis of the Findings

Although there have been some persuasive arguments made against the payment of cash reparations to the modern descendants of African slaves in recent years by Americans of all races, the preliminary findings that emerged from the research showed that most Americans support reparations in same form of educational reforms. This alternative reparational strategy may not fully compensate the millions of American descendants of slaves monetarily, but it will provide a framework in which these descendants and their children can gain the educational background they need to compete effectively in the 21st century workplace.

In addition, the educational reforms that were identified (e.g., change the property taxation structure; change taxation laws to increase funding for all schools and provide investments in a future educational infrastructure; and, educate taxpayers concerning the importance of school funding to facilitate improved fiscal policies) are long overdue and have added even more fuel to the smoldering racial fires that have been burning during the post-George Floyd era.

Conclusion – Preliminary Conclusions

In some ways, the nation’s reluctance to address the longstanding inequities that are the legacy of slavery in the United States are somewhat understandable since these types of efforts compel modern Americans of all stripes to confront an especially ugly part of the past. Likewise, the Emancipation Proclamation and the provisions of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution did not end the suffering and inequalities visited upon former slaves, and the research was consistent in showing that the inequalities that were the legacy of slavery remained firmly in place through a mind-boggling series of racist legislative machinations for generations, some of which remain firmly entrenched in American society today. The fact that there is even a Black Lives Matter movement today is clear evidence that something is still wrong in the United States and this organization’s 25 million members clearly feel the same way (Buchanan et al., 2021). The recommendations that emerged from the preliminary research will not cure all the racial wrongs that persist in America, but they will provide the incremental changes that are needed to address these issues in meaningful ways.