What is Reparations and Why We Should Get It

by Kamau Kujichagulia (iasial)
The Nubian News

I think a lot of people make the mistake of thinking reparations is for slavery. That is not the case. Reparations is for the national government= s allowing slavery and the racist, discriminatory practices up until the present time.

In many ways the U.S. government still allows highly racists acts to be perpetuated against people of color.

African Americans are at the forefront of this movement because we shouldered the brunt of these actions. We were the ones torn from our homes and placed in the positions of chattel slavery with the express permission and backing of the laws of this government. A government is and always must be responsible for what it does and has done. That= s why the Eskimos and Japanese got reparations. That is why the Jewish people got Israel and billions of dollars from Germany. It is why the indigenous people here are winning case after case in American courts today.

The U.S. government legalized systems which kept African people of color outside of any protections of the law. In the Dred Scott case the U.S. Supreme Court declared A Black people had no rights which white people need to respect.@ This was the law of the land. And it= s vestiges are intact today. There are countless rulings and legal proceedings which rely on racist, discriminatory past decisions of the courts.

We need reparations for not being part of any of the body of laws which, today, govern our lives. Because We were not permitted to participate in any legal development in this country, We deserve compensation. Because the laws of this country refused Us any access to capital and/or wealth-building from any of our labor, this means today We are trillions of dollars behind where we should be. We deserve to be compensated.

When the indigenous peoples= land was stolen and parceled out, We got none of it. This means all wealth taken from the land was denied us. We got none of the farm profits. We got none of the mineral rights. We got none of the access rights. We got none of the equity wealth from the land. We got nothing because the government we lived under and abided by refused all of this to us. We must be compensated.

When this very same government came under attack from foreign and domestic forces, We stood with it and defended this land. Even after giving life and limb for a government which promised freedom in return for our sacrifice, that same government turned its back on Us. We deserve compensation for this affront.

This government which proclaimed to the world that A ...we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, and among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness . . .@

This same government made and enforced laws which took from Us, Our lives, Our liberty and Our pursuit of happiness. For this We demand reparations.

White people say A My people never owned slaves so why should I have to pay for those that did?@ To that I say this B the government of this country by its laws, forced slavery on African people of color until 1865 and then for 100 years after that forced, again by its laws or lack of enforcement, the denial of the rights of free men. For this We must be compensated. And if they do not want to help the government pay it= s bills, then they can leave.

How Much Is Just

What would be a just sum of reparations? What monetary figure would provide a just degree of compensation? I figure African people of color lost trillions of dollars because of the laws of America= s government since 1619 when the first Africans were enslaved. There are approximately 30,000,000 African Americans in the United States today who are survivors and descendants of African people of color who suffered under the weight of racist, illegal laws of this government.

Each African American will receive $100,000.00. That will total $3 trillion dollars. Add to this another $1 trillion dollars which would be used to build and support institutions for African Americans. The total would come to only $4 trillion dollars which is about 20% of GDP for one year. This is eminently just and correct.

Each individual will be compensated for the illegal disregard this government has shown him/her and their ancestors. The African American community will have $1 trillion dollars to set up whatever institutions are needed to life Us up in the country. This is like the land deals the government gave the whites which in truth comes to several tens of trillions of dollars.

With these amounts of compensation, each African American person will have funds to build on. Each of Us could finally get a pair of boots to pull up on those boot straps.

Some of Us will blow the money. That= s Our business. Each person can do whatever he wants to with their own money. Most of Us will use our money to position ourselves to expand and improve our lives. We could stay here and fight for justice and peace or we could move and establish ourselves in lands more friendly towards people of color. As Neely Fuller said, A Regardless of all that has been said or done, the quality of the relationship(s) between white people and Black people is, and has been, a total disaster.@

One of the reasons the back to Africa or Caribbean movement hasn= t taken hold is We don= t have the capital to build there what we have here. America is a great place to live as far as creature comforts are concerned. If some of Us joined together we could put millions together to build strong, comfortable communities in sun-drenched lands.

Our options will be endless.

The truth of the matter is We should receive reparations in every human activity, not just economics. This government has thwarted Us in education, entertainment, law, labor, politics, religion, sex and war. By right We should be compensated in all areas of life. The U.S. government screwed Us in every way imaginable. That We are only asking for economic reparations is an indication of our constraint.

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