13th Amendment Argumentative Essay

Ryan Douglas Roberts, 23, was found guilty of murdering a 13 - year old girl in Sacramento, California. According to an article written on September 21, 2015 by KCRA, Roberts faces a maximum potential sentence of 26 years to life in prison. This is exactly what the judicial system was made to do; convict those who have committed a crime. So why has the United States gone almost 200 years without being convicted of its most violent crime? Slavery in America began when the first African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of such lucrative crops as tobacco. And most aren't aware that slavery in this country didn't officially end until Dec. 6, 1865, the day the 13th Amendment
A key example of how reparations can be in other forms than money is memorialism. As pointed out by Dr. Nieftagodien, senior lecturer at University of Basel, “… Memorialisation is important in the same way that I think uncovering the past [is], making the past known to current generations is an important project … but I also think that it should be an area of contestation.” As Dr. Nieftagodien mentions, memorialism is important to recognizing the past, and it actually addresses the past more directly and honorably than money can. Though unpopular in the African American community, a great form of reparation is a formal apology from the United States; something that has yet to happen. This form of reparation has precedented success. The International Center for Transitional Justice brings us the prime example, “In 2010, the President of Sierra Leone formally apologized to women victims of his country’s 10-year armed conflict. This apology forms part of ongoing efforts to distribute modest compensation, rehabilitation and other benefits to eligible victims.” Dr. Noel Solani, researcher at Robben Island Museum perfectly encompases this point in saying “You can choose to give in monetary terms, but you can also choose to say how you remember this past as a form of giving back in the long term. Because money is something that you can take
And while yes, there are no living African Americans who suffered under American slavery, that does not mean it isn’t supported. A perfect example to refute this argument is a study conducted in which highlights the double standard, which is the idea of reparations for African Americans. Jeff Grabmeier, Senior Director, Research and Innovation Communications of Ohio State University writes in an article,”Researchers examined the ‘too long ago’ rationale in another study. The researchers asked participants to imagine that their great, great grandfather, a wealthy shipping magnate, had been kidnapped about 150 years ago. The kidnappers demanded and received a large ransom that bankrupted the shipping magnate. That ransom was used to start a successful company that still survives today and is worth $100 million. Participants were asked whether they would be willing to be a part of a large suit against the present-day company that could net them each about $5,000. In this scenario, 61 percent agreed to have their names listed on the lawsuit.” This clearly proves to us that the idea of reparations is actually supported, regardless of time, directly dropping the opposing side’s argument of there being no support in the community. To tie this point together