Summary Of The Past: The Economic Case For Reparations

America has a corrupt history where Whites have enslaved people of color. They have mentally and physically abuse Blacks as it resulted in fearing for their lives on a daily basis. At the same time, the government also made sure they excluded Blacks from prospering within America. Examples such as restriction on opportunities, raising economical prices in minority communities, and destroying the black family household structure has been inflicted. Sadly, Families of color cannot prosper within America due to not being afforded the same economically opportunities as other races. Therefore, reparations are owed to African Americans. Others presume that reparations will damage the economy as America will be fully in debt, and cause havoc for both
Blacks were forbidden to read and write during slavery era. If attempted to read and write, people of color were brutally punished. The consequences they faced involved getting whipped or body parts amputated. As slavery became abolished, Blacks were not provided the same opportunities as Whites where they taught the fundamentals to read and write. Blacks barely had money to put their children into schools and whites wanted to exclude Blacks from American communities. As a result, people of color created their own institutions and educated children within their homes. In the article, “The Past Isn’t Past: The Economic Case for Reparations” by Joshua Holland, Holland expresses the lack of opportunities for Blacks even when they receive an education. “While the rate of African- Americans who complete college has increased dramatically since the Civil Rights era, the children of whites who are of college age today are around 50 percent more likely to have parents with at least a bachelor’s degree than Blacks”(Holland 1). Education plays a crucial role with wealth because there needs to be growth and development for individuals to succeed. As for reparation, state governments can end educational budgets that are based on local property taxes, in which they can invest in school, reconstruction, and modernization for Blacks to close the wealth gap. The government disproportionately use this as a tactic to hurt Blacks. For jobs, there should more opportunities for African American in the work field. In the work field, people of color lack jobs into professionals such as lawyers, scientist, STEM workers, and etc. In the article, “Race and Class: Blacks Still Taking the Hit” by Malik Miah, Miah examines the lack of diversity within a working environment, and race plays a role as applying for employment.