Reparations Now, Not Later

So many Americans of all races will say that today's Americans of African Descent shouldn't receive nor or worthy of financial reparations for the horrendous effects slavery inflicted on our ancestors from 1619-1865. I hear this all the time that the White American oppressor will never make whole the Black Americans who were oppressed. Well, I totally disagree with that feeling and I feel that we must as a community of Black Americans gravitates united in our cause for economic justice. 

This week I think I am proving that financial reparations are also due to today's Americans of African Descent for the horrendous conditions that have continued to exist in the United States from December 6, 1865, the ratification date of the 13th Amendment; April 14, 1868, the ratification date of the 14th Amendment; and February 3, 1870, the ratification date of the 15th Amendment; as well as May 17, 1954, the date that SCOTUS released the Brown vs. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas. You can also add the date July 2, 1964, The Civil Rights Bill along with August 6, 1965, The Voting Right Act, because even these two bills which were supposed to level the playing field for Americans of African Descent have proven to be totally inadequate in addressing the inequality issue. So, the issue of economic reparations for Americans of African Descent stretches from June 1619 all the way up today August 12, 2021.

If you cannot understand the need for repayment for sins committed past and present by those who controlled power against Americans of African Descent then you simply do not have a handle on the virus of racial hatred, degradation, and violence that has been and continues to be inflicted on my black community today. Many white Americans simply have placed their heads in the sands of ignorance. They are unwilling to concede the wrongs of white society on people of color in this nation. Let me tell you again that the Era of Black Reconstruction, the so-called Second Founding of the United States lasted about a decade from 1865-1876, and then the entire system of reconstruction collapsed under the weight of renewed white racism and hatred directed at the former slaves by not only the white masters but also the United States government.

Until a true formal apology partnered with financial reparations is provided to the Americans of African Descent then the color line will continue to separate blacks and whites in this country. The more history of the ill-gotten gains of whites provided due to the horrendous treatment of Americans of African Descent is uncovered. Then the elevation of racial tensions in this nation will continue to rise unfettered. You see injustice unmasked is a permanent stain on the democracy the United States of America is supposed to stand for. You cannot promote the principles of democracy when the greatest percentage of unprincipled acts of oppression has been and continues to be directed at a single race of people (Black Americans) who have stood by this country even when they as a nation of peoples were facing those acts of purposeful oppression.