Conference Participation

Public Policies and Practices and Their Impact on Communities of Color

Paper: Black Reparations as Remediation and Course Change for the Decline of Democracy in the U.S.

Abstract: The U.S. was built as a slave economy in which Black bodies functioned as primary capital, embedding racial hierarchy into the nation’s economic, legal, and cultural foundations. The Founding Documents created a core contradiction by proclaiming universal equality while institutionalizing slavery and racial subjugation. This contradiction fostered both aspirations of prosperity and a racialized social order in which non-Black Americans were positioned above a permanent Black underclass. 

This racial stratification has served the financial interests of the wealthiest elites, enabling them to consolidate economic and political power while exploiting the labor of all other groups. Persistent racial divisions encourage infighting among poor and working-class whites, obscure structural inequality through myths of meritocracy, and redirect blame toward Black and Brown communities. This dynamic undermines democratic governance by limiting genuine multiracial participation in decision-making. 

Black Reparations offer a pathway to disrupt entrenched racial and economic hierarchies, advancing equitable access to resources while strengthening democracy for all. Reparations could enable new institutions—such as a Department of Peace—focused on harm repair, restorative justice, civic education, national service, and environmental and economic justice. These structures would promote accountability, reconciliation, and shared governance, fostering both material equity and the democratic capacity for empathy and collective responsibility. 

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