Noah Rigo

Rona Koe: The concepts in this essay were well-articulated enough for a reader to begin to feel the pain of the Black community from hundreds of years of historical oppression. The main points were easy to follow and left little to wonder about. This writer used examples and quotes effectively as evidence to support a well-defined thesis.

Christina Nation-Corriveau: This essay opens by grounding the argument for reparations within a historical context. Continuing on, the author deftly utilizes counterargument while making a focused case for reparations in the form of “low to no cost education” and “low to no interest [housing] loans” as a counterbalance to past iniquities.

Brenda Solis: From beginning to end, this essay is gripping. It is both compelling and informative. The arguments for why reparations should happen and how they should happen are made with profound thinking and give a sense of empowerment to all African Americans. The sophistication in which this essay is written demonstrates that the writer is well beyond the first-year college level.

The issue of reparations for slaves goes back to biblical writings. The moral and ethical considerations of reparations are stated in Deuteronomy 15: 12-15, when setting slaves free the bible instructs,“thou shalt not let him go away empty” (Deuteronomy). However, in today’s considerations the Slave owners of America have long since passed away as have the slaves themselves. Slavery ended 150 years ago with no reparations. The question of providing or not providing financial reparations to African Americans for the sins of the past speaks to the very core and the foundation of America’s heritage. Although African Americans endured slavery in the U.S. until the end of the Civil War, reparations were paid in the form of hundreds of thousands of Americans that died fighting slavery in the civil war. While that is true, the post-Civil War oppression practice of contract loans hindered the black community from progressing in the United States. As a result, redlining was often a bi product of contract loans continuing to negatively affect blacks. Both of these negative practices are directly related to the systemic racism and white supremacy that affected African Americans after the Civil War. In responses to these post-civil war practices reparations should be made.

Many will argue that reparations are unnecessary because of the tremendous loss of life that occurred during the Civil War. Whether the goal of the armies was to maintain states’ rights and continue slavery or to preserve the union and end slavery the sacrifice was heavy. Civil War casualties totaled 620,000 men. America paid the price to end slavery with the blood of its sons. Ta-Nehisi Coates is correct in claiming that reparations should be made to African Americans in the Atlantic Article The Case for reparations, however his reasoning why the reparations should be made and how they should be administered is faulty. Reparations are necessary due to the effects of systemic racism that occurred post slavery in the form of contract loans, redlining, and white supremacy. These racist practices impacted the African Americans ability to create financial security through home ownership and the quality of available education in turn keeping African Americans handcuffed to a lower class. Therefore, reparations should be due in the form of low to no interest loans to create fair housing and low-to no-cost education, trade and career development. These things will help repair some the effects of systemic racism post slavery. These reparations also allow African Americans the personal agency to improve their quality of life rather than creating an entitlement or victim mentality.

After the Civil War many freed slaves moved North to look for a new life and to build a family. In order to build a new successful life these African Americans looked for jobs and to buy real estate to form a family. Without knowing it they were going from physical slavery to financial slavery becoming trapped and taken advantage of when buying a house on contract. The use of contract loans can be seen when Coates explains how Clyde Ross had bought his house, “‘on contract’ : a predatory agreement that combined all the responsibilities of home ownership with all the disadvantages of renting- while offering the benefits of neither”(Coates Sec I). The contract loans used against African Americans like Clyde Ross included strict terms of agreement that were impossible for people to make. These contracts contained terms like extremely high monthly payments, not allowing any acquisition of equity, and if they missed one payment, they would lose the down payment and all of the previous monthly payments. Secondly, the contract sale that Ross had agreed to, led him into paying $27,500 to the seller for a house that they had just bought for $12,000 (Coates Sec I). This further shows the ruthless racism that was used against blacks around the country when trying to simply purchase a house. This history of contract loans proves that low to no-cost mortgages should be available to African Americans as reparations. Another tactic that was used to keep Blacks in the lower class was redlining.

Redlining was used throughout the U.S. to keep African Americans in extremely poor neighborhoods and out of white neighborhoods. In 1934 the FHA (Federal Housing Administration) was created by Congress. The FHA produced lower interest rates and lowered the amount of the down payment needed to purchase a house by insuring private mortgages. This was a great idea except that most African Americans were not able to get the insured private mortgages because, “neighborhoods where black people lived were rated ‘D’ and were usually considered ineligible for FHA backing. They were colored in red.” (Coates Sec. I) while neighborhoods with only white residents were rated A and were always eligible for FHA backing. This is what is known as redlining and it made it even harder for African Americans to make it out of poor ghettos by limiting monetary help. Redlining not only caused Blacks to get denied insured private mortgages it made moving into any area where white people lived extremely hard. When a black person moved into a white neighborhood, redlining caused it to devalue every house in that neighborhood. This created racial violence where Whites would force those African Americans out of the neighborhood. Coates shared a story that proves this when explaining how, “Chicago’s Park Manor neighborhood, hoping to eject a black doctor who’d recently moved in. The mob pelted the house with rocks and set the garage on fire. The doctor moved away” (Coates Sec VI). This example shows how redlining led to a violent racial act of white supremacy preventing African Americans to progress into a higher status of living. Because of the negative effects that redlining induced on African Americans, reparations should be made.

While contract loans and redlining kept African Americans segregated in the ghettos, acts of white supremacy oppressed and humiliated black people. For example, Eric Foner describes, “incidents of black people being attacked for not removing their hats; for refusing to hand over a whiskey flask; for disobeying church procedures; for “using insolent language”; for disputing labor contracts; for refusing to be “tied like a slave”( Coates Sec. V). This example shows just how brutal and degrading Whites were to the average African American. These acts of oppression limited the ability of African Americans to thrive and be successful in America. Lastly, the systemic racism that poisoned our nation was represented in a 1943 real estate brochure describing individuals whose presence would be harmful to property values stated, “might include madams, bootleggers, gangsters—and ‘a colored man of means who was giving his children a college education and thought they were entitled to live among whites’” (Coates Sec. V). This brochure further demonstrates the negative and racist view cast on blacks. The white supremacy which continues to out-picture in today’s society is a key factor why reparations are necessary to continue to sow the seeds of equality.

During a Fox News interview Bob Woodson, President of the Woodson institute, argues against reparations. He claims that reparations will not solve the issues facing blacks today (drug addiction, black on black violence, and the dropout rate). Woodson also stated that the only way to move forward is by looking at black success in the past and “addressing the enemy within”. Despite Woodson’s claims reparations should be made in the form of low-cost housing loans or no interest housing loans, and low-cost education would help resolve the issue in home ownership and education. Secondly in the article “The Case against Reparations” a response to Coates written by Kevin D. Williamson claims that, reparations would “[have] the long-term effect of leaving them worse off”. Although Williamson makes great claims against reparations, the effects of low to no interest loans to create fair housing and low to no cost education could only help African Americans and would in no way hinder them in the future.

After the Civil War the use of contract loans, redlining, and white supremacy placed on African Americans, prevented them from progressing in our society and limited them to the lower class. With the help of low to no cost education and low to no interest loans to create fair housing as a form of reparations, African Americans would have a great base to help them progress in our country. Additional reparations could also be made in the form of trade and career development to help struggling black communities find work. In recent years the Black Lives Matter movement has become increasingly more prevalent and put a lot more attention on black rights and equality throughout the United States. This movement will agree that reparations like these would help African Americans become more successful in our country.

Works Cited

Coates, Story by Ta-Nehisi. “The Case for Reparations.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 16 June 2020, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/.

Williamson, Kevin D. “The Case against Reparations.” National Review, National Review, 19 June 2019, www.nationalreview.com/2014/05/case-against-reparations-kevin-d-williamson/.

Woodson, Bob. “Smartest Argument Against Reparations From Black Civil Rights Activist - Video Dailymotion.” Dailymotion, Dailymotion, 15 Mar. 2019, www.dailymotion.com/video/x748qn8.