The Debate Over Reparations for Slavery

The effects of both the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism continue to reverberate today, leading activists, human rights groups and the descendants of victims to demand reparations. The debate over reparations for slavery in the United States dates back  generations, in fact, all the way to the Civil War. Then, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman recommended that all freedmen should receive 40 acres and a mule. The idea came after talks with African American themselves. However, President Andrew Johnson and the U.S. Congress did not approve of the plan. In the 21st century, not much has changed. The U.S. government and other nations where slavery thrived have yet to compensate the descendants of people in bondage. Still, the call for governments to take action has recently grown louder. In September 2016, a United Nations panel wrote a report that concluded African Americans deserve reparations for enduring centuries of â€Å"racial terrorism.† Made up of human rights lawyers and other experts, the U.N.’s Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent shared its findings with the U.N. Human Rights Council. â€Å"In particular, the legacy of colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial inequality in the United States remains a serious challenge, as there has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent,† the report determined. â€Å"Contemporary police killings and the trauma that they create are reminiscent of the past racial terror of lynching.† The panel does not have authority to legislate its findings, but its conclusions certainly give weight to the reparations movement. With this review, get a better idea of what reparations are, why supporters believe they’re needed  and why opponents object to them. Learn how private institutions, such as colleges and corporations, are owning up to their role in slavery, even as the federal government remains silent on the issue. What Are Reparations? When some people hear the term â€Å"reparations,† they think it means that descendants of slaves will receive a large cash payout. While reparations can be distributed in the form of cash, that’s hardly the only form in which they come. The U.N. panel said that reparations can amount to â€Å"a formal apology, health initiatives, educational opportunities ... psychological rehabilitation, technology transfer and financial support, and debt cancellation.† The human rights organization Redress defines reparations as a centuries-long principle of international law â€Å"referring to the obligation of a wrongdoing party to redress the damage caused to the injured party.† In other words, the guilty party must work to eradicate the effects of the wrongdoing as much as possible. In doing so, the party aims to restore a situation to how it likely would have played out had no wrongdoing occurred. Germany has provided restitution to Holocaust victims, but there’s simply no way to compensate for the lives of the six million Jews slaughtering during the genocide. Redress points out that in 2005, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. These principles serve as a guideline for how reparations can be distributed.  One can also look to history for  examples. Although the descendants of enslaved African Americans have not received reparations, Japanese Americans forced into internment camps by the federal government during World War II have. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 allowed the U.S. government to pay former internees $20,000. More than 82,000 survivors received restitution. President Ronald Reagan formally apologized to the internees as well. People who oppose reparations for slave descendants argue that African Americans and Japanese American internees differ. While actual survivors of internment were still alive to receive restitution, enslaved blacks are not.    Proponents and Opponents of Reparations The African American community includes both opponents and proponents of reparations. Ta-Nehisi Coates, a journalist for The Atlantic, has surfaced as one of the leading advocates for redress for African Americans. In 2014, he wrote a compelling argument in favor of reparations that catapulted him to international stardom. Walter Williams, an economic professor at George Mason University, is one of the leading foes of reparations. Both men are black. Williams argues that reparations are unnecessary because he contends that African Americans actually benefitted from slavery. Almost every black American’s income is higher as a result of being born in the United States than any country in Africa, Williams told ABC News. Most black Americans are middle-class. But this statement overlooks the fact that African Americans have higher poverty, unemployment and health disparities than other groups. It also overlooks that blacks have far less wealth on average than whites, a disparity that has continued over generations. Moreover, Williams ignores the psychological scars left by slavery and racism, which researchers have linked to higher rates of hypertension and infant mortality for blacks than whites. Reparations advocates argue that redress goes beyond a check. The government can compensate African Americans by investing in their schooling, training and economic empowerment. But Williams asserts that the federal government has already invested trillions to fight poverty. â€Å"We’ve had all kinds of programs trying to address the problems of discrimination,† he said. â€Å"America has gone a long way.† Coates, in contrast, argues that reparations are needed because after the Civil War, African Americans endured a second slavery due to debt peonage, predatory housing practices, Jim Crow and state-sanctioned violence. He also cited an Associated Press investigation about how racism resulted in blacks systematically losing their land since the antebellum period. â€Å"The series documented some 406 victims and 24,000 acres of land valued at tens of millions of dollars,† Coates explained of the investigation. â€Å"The land was taken through means ranging from legal chicanery to terrorism. ‘Some of the land taken from black families has become a country club in Virginia,’ the AP reported, as well as ‘oil fields in Mississippi’ and ‘a baseball spring training facility in Florida.’† Coates also pointed out how those who owned the land black tenant farmers worked often proved unscrupulous and refused to give sharecroppers the money owed to them. To boot, the federal government deprived African Americans of a chance to build up wealth by homeownership due to racist practices.    â€Å"Redlining went beyond FHA-backed loans and spread to the entire mortgage industry, which was already rife with racism, excluding black people from most legitimate means of obtaining a mortgage,† Coates wrote. Most compellingly, Coates notes how enslaved blacks and slavers themselves thought reparations necessary. He describes how in 1783, freedwoman Belinda Royall successfully petitioned the commonwealth of Massachusetts for reparations. In addition, Quakers demanded new converts to make reparations to slaves, and Thomas Jefferson protà ©gà © Edward Coles granted his slaves a plot of land after inheriting them. Similarly, Jefferson’s cousin John Randolph wrote in his will that his older slaves be freed and given 10 acres of land. The reparations blacks received then paled in comparison to how much the South, and by extension  the United States, profited from human trafficking. According to Coates, a third of all white income in the seven cotton states stemmed from slavery. Cotton became one of the country’s top exports, and by 1860, more millionaires per capita called the Mississippi Valley home than any other region in the nation. While Coates is the American most associated with the reparations movement today, he certainly did not start it. In the 20th century, a hodgepodge of Americans backed reparations. They include veteran Walter R. Vaughan, black-nationalist Audley Moore, civil rights activist James Forman and black activist Callie House. In 1987, the group National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America formed. And since 1989, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) has repeatedly introduced a bill, HR 40, known as the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act. But the bill has never cleared the House, just as Harvard Law School Professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr. has not won any of the reparations claims he’s pursued in court. Aetna, Lehman Brothers, J.P. Morgan Chase, FleetBoston Financial and Brown Williamson Tobacco are among the companies that have been sued for their ties to slavery. But Walter Williams said that corporations aren’t culpable. â€Å"Do corporations have social responsibility?† Williams asked in an opinion column. â€Å"Yes. Nobel laureate professor Milton Friedman put it best in 1970 when he said that in a free society ‘there is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.’† Some corporations have a different take. How Institutions Have Addressed Slavery Ties Companies such as Aetna have acknowledged profiting from slavery. In 2000, the company apologized for reimbursing slaveholders for the financial losses incurred when their chattel, enslaved men and women, died. Aetna has long acknowledged that for several years shortly after its founding in 1853 that the company may have insured the lives of slaves, the company said in a statement. We express our deep regret over any participation at all in this deplorable practice. Aetna admitted to writing up to a dozen policies insuring the lives of the enslaved. But it said it would not offer reparations. The insurance industry and slavery were extensively entangled. After Aetna apologized for its role in the institution, the California State Legislature required all insurance companies doing business there to search their archives for policies that reimbursed slaveholders. Not long afterward, eight companies provided such records, with three submitting records of having insured slave ships. In 1781, slavers on the ship Zong  threw more than  130 sick slaves overboard to collect insurance money. But Tom Baker, then director of the Insurance Law Center at the University of Connecticut School of Law, told the New York Times in 2002 that he disagreed that insurance companies should be sued for their slavery ties. â€Å"I just have a sense that it’s unfair that a few companies have been singled out when the slave economy was something that the whole society bears some responsibility for,† he said. â€Å"My concern is more that to the extent that there is some moral responsibility, it should not be targeted to just a few people.† Some institutions with ties to the slave trade have tried to make amends for their past. A number of the nation’s oldest universities, among them Princeton, Brown, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Dartmouth, the University of Pennsylvania and the College of William and Mary, had ties to slavery. Brown University’s Committee on Slavery and Justice found that the school’s founders, the Brown family, owned slaves and participated in the slave trade. Additionally, 30 members of Brown’s governing board owned slaves or helmed slave ships. In response to this finding, Brown said it would expand its Africana studies program, continue to provide technical assistance to historically black colleges and universities, support local public schools and more. Georgetown University is also taking action. The university owned slaves and announced plans to offer reparations. In 1838, the university sold 272 enslaved blacks to eliminate its debt. As a result, it is offering admissions preference to the descendants of those it sold. â€Å"Having this opportunity would be amazing but I also feel as if it’s owed to me and to my family and to others that want that opportunity,† Elizabeth Thomas, a slave descendant, told NPR in 2017. Her mother, Sandra Thomas, said she didn’t think Georgetown’s reparations plan goes far enough, as not every descendant is in a position to attend university. â€Å"What about me?† she asked. â€Å"I dont want to go to school. Im an old lady. What if you don’t have the capacity? You have one student lucky enough to have decent family support system, got the foundation. He can go to Georgetown and he can thrive. He has that ambition. You’ve got this kid over here. He’ll never go to Georgetown or any other school on this planet beyond a certain level. Now, what you going to do for him? Did his ancestors suffer any less? No.† Thomas raises a point on which  both supporters and foes of reparations can agree. No amount of restitution can make up for the injustices suffered.

How to Complete a Solid Persuasive Abortion Essay

When dealing with abortion, remember that you must cope with one of the most controversial subjects ever. The thing is that it is a long-running issue of political nature in the majority of the countries all over the world, and there are individuals who stand on both sides of this argument and passionately hold personal beliefs they tend to state pretty expressively. There are many reasons why you might need to accomplish a persuasive essay on abortion, whether you’re taking part in a certain campaign you support or you just deal with a regular academic project. One way or another, you must know how to do this job right. A lot of people, no matter how serious they are about their beliefs, are not very good at expressing them to the others. Moreover, in some cases it may be more complicated to provide a well-researched and professionally composed project on the topic you feel solidly about. What you have to do to is to stay away from various traps you can easily fall into.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Be honest! It does not matter how persuasive and well-expressed your project is. The point is that if your assignment is based on facts your reader can easily check, and all those statements turn to be far from truth, your reputation will be ruined and all your efforts to create an essay worth paying attention to will be in vain. Build you arguments upon the factual material.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Make certain you do not misinterpret viewpoints of the other side. In case you’re the one who believes in access to abortion, no need to concentrate on weird statements like those provided by the USA politicians who speak about something they call â€Å"legitimate rape† for it’s not what you need. Make sure you talk about real life examples on pregnancies that were caused by incest or rape. In case you do not support the argument, never approach your opponents with accusations of killing babies. The thing is that these people believe that in this or that situation the termination of pregnancy is the best of the worst options.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Emotive words are a taboo! When your task is to persuade someone that pregnancy termination is wrong and you claim that what they do is nothing but a murder, your opponents will begin to defend their views. Dispassionately providing only solid arguments – that’s what we call persuasive! Turn off your emotions, because they will make you look like a five-year-old baby crying in order to get a candy. Always keep in mind who you are writing for. In case you make an effort to motivate individuals who support the same viewpoint as you do it’s OK to add up a slight touch of emotions to the content. Still, when writing for the audience that is opposite to you and your beliefs, make sure to take a look at your essay from their perspective. Get inside their mind and think what arguments would take you to the other side if you were in their shoes.

The Media s Influence On Politics - 1134 Words

POLS 1101 American Government The media’s influence on politics I decided to do research on the impact that the media has politics due to the factors that can influence society, as well as the individuals. Do you believe that social media plays a major role in politics and at times can be unfair by only showing one perspective? I personally believe that the social media, greatly effects politics and can be shown to be very one-sided on many occasions. Social media has been around long before it became used for political battleground. According, to the article Social Media, Political Change, and Human Rights â€Å"Social media is defined as a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content†. It comes in many different formats such as collaborative projects, virtual worlds, blogs, content communities, and social networking. Collaborative projects are projects that people work towards creating content. One of the most popular collaborative projects that we are familiar with is Wikipedia. Blogs are creative workspaces created by an individual or organization that follows any topic the author chooses. The most commonly used are Tumblr, blogger, etc. Content communities are sites where you must join to become a member. A few popular content communities are Flickr, YouTube, etc. Social networking is among the most popular of social mediaShow MoreRelatedMedia s Influence On Politics932 Words   |  4 PagesMedia and politics are different entities with distinct aim; however, both depend on each other. Politics use media to be known by the public and to advertise their campaigns while media needs politics to inform the public by giving visibility to politics. Media and politics work together and even though they are different, both impact each other . Since politics need media to provide good image and inform ation about them. Media also can use its authority to exploit information on politics; in contrastRead MoreMedia s Influence On Politics1422 Words   |  6 PagesThe media has perpetually influenced politics, for example, during the 2016 election, 91 percent of Americans learned information about the election from eleven various media sources. As it is evident that the media increases knowledge about multiple candidates and political parties throughout the country, within those sources, individualistic opinions and biases cloud the accurate information of what occurs. Although the press may be expanding awareness about the government and policy issues, itRead MoreThe Media s Influence On Politics Essay2357 Words   |  10 Pages â€Å"Social media s influence in this presidential election is stronger than it has ever been† (Lang par.4). It is undeniable that this 2016 election has been greatly impacted by the media. Whether it be social media or the more traditional forms of media, the impact is colossal. Many would say that this is great, because politics are evolving and appealing to younger and younger people. A tremendous amount of people believe that the surprising and quite impressive success of Donald Trump and hisRead MoreMedia s Influence On Politics1742 Words   |  7 Pages In the Public Eye: Politics and the Media Much of American life is guided by the influx of information received from the media. This results in the ability of the media to shape or mold the opinions of American society. Media is used in numerous areas concerning politics. â€Å"Without the media’s investigations, citizens would be forced to rely entirely on the information provided by politicians and the government, and would be deprived of an indispensable opportunity to evaluate issues carefully andRead MoreThe Political Economy Of The Media978 Words   |  4 PagesThis unit â€Å"The Political Economy of the Media† we try to understand what the correlation is between the political economy and its influence on the media and when did the economy start to effect the media. We will discuss within three different issues based on the readings issued; Newspaper, the discipline of journalism and the politics of the film industry. Each reading makes valid points and gives great real life examples of how politics a nd the media are in a symbiotic relationship. In BennettRead MoreSocial Media And Politics During The 1930 S Essay986 Words   |  4 PagesSocial Media and politics Prior to the 1930’s there was no state of union to the public. It wasn’t until the radio that politics and people came as one. Politics started using social media in the 1930’s with Franklin D. Roosevelt. With the use of the radio th president became the center of attention in the media. He used the media for everything. If was federal or foreign affairs because it was easy to rely on the one president oppose to congress. Also, president have a term â€Å"going public† forRead MoreThe Media: A Powerful Voice1088 Words   |  4 PagesThe Media is a powerful voice listened to by millions of Americans, as well as billions of people across the globe. For decades, the media has been an influential instrument in the political realm. In today’s politics, the media is a necessary part of the campaign process and is undoubtedly a powerful tool for candidates in getting their message to the public and the engine by which public opinion is formed. But just how powerful is the media? Dictionary.com defines the media as, â€Å"The means ofRead MoreEssay on Mass Medias Political Power967 Words   |  4 Pagesissues regarding media influence in politics 1. Does presentation and coverage affect voting behaviour and choices? 2. Do media have an impact on political struggle and decide nature of debates? Definitions of mass media Mass media are channels of communication through which messages flow, produced by a few for consumption by many people. As the messages go through the channels, they are distorted. When people receive mass-media messages, theyRead MoreThe Political Of Political Socialization863 Words   |  4 Pagespolitical socialization is vital in the developing of how one views politics, the way they act or choose not to act, and how they identify within the political system. Although countless influences sway or attract us to a given political view, party, or identification, there are undoubtedly certain factors that play a bigger role in this process. Some of the most prominent agents of political socialization are as follows; family, media, peers, education, religion, faith, race, gender, age, geographyRead MoreThe Media s Impact On Public Opinion936 Words   |  4 PagesThe media has always had a powerful impact on public opinion in Britain. With several different types and means of communication, such as TV, newspapers, social networking and radio, it is difficult for the public to not be even slightly impacted by the opinion of thousands that surrounds them every day. However, with newspapers spinning stories to promote the party they favour (such as the Daily Mail in favour of Conservatives or the Mirror in favour of Labour ) or to disparage the opposition, is

Midsummer Night’s Dream Analysis Essay Example For Students

Midsummer Night’s Dream Analysis Essay After a night of wandering through the woods, chasing fairies, having variouspotions rubbed over their eyes, falling in and out of love, and threatening eachothers lives and limbs, the four lovers of A Midsummer Nights Dream wake up inthe forest to the trumpeting of horns and find themselves surrounded bynobility. Its no wonder they are confused, and cannot truly say .. . (IV.1.7) how they ended up where they are and what happened the nightbefore. But what they are sure about is how they feel towards one another. Whether its a love that has faded, grown anew or been there all along, the fourlovers possess a certainty about who (m) they love that is as strong if notstronger than it is at any other point in the play. Lysander is the first of thefour paramours to react to Theseus wonderment at their situation. He admitsthat I shall reply amazedly, /Half sleep, half waking. But as yet, Iswear, /I cannot truly say how I came here. (IV.1.145-7). In this excerpt,Lysanders tone is understandably a bit dazed and unsure, and his response islittered with uncertainty. This tone of astonishment is also present in thethoughts of Demetrius, Helena, and Hermia. Methinks I see these thingswith parted eye, /When everything seems double (IV.1.188-9) exclaimsHermia, and Helena agrees that So methinks.(IV.1.190). Demetrius isso bewildered that he finds it necessary to ask the others Are you surethat we are awake? It seems to me/ That yet we sleep, we dream.(IV.1.192-4). The underlying tone throughout this waking scene is one ofuneasiness and confusion between dreams and reality; but the only time thelovers express real uncertainty is while they are sorting out what just happenedin front of them involving the Duke and his hunting party. Demetrius asks theothers Do not you think/The Duke was here, and bid us follow him?(IV.1.194-5), and only concludes that Why, then, we are awake.(IV.1.197) after receiving confirmation from the others. But this tone ofuncertainty fades when the four talk about their true loves. Demetrius admitsthat I wot know by what power . . . (IV.1.163) that his love forHermia has Melted as the snow . . .(IV.1.165), but he is sure thatThe object and the pleasure of mine eye, /is only Helena.(IV.1.169-70). Lysander and Hermia dont even refer to their love as anytimebeing in doubttheir confusion again only pertains to what is happeningpresently; what Hermia sees as if out of focus, with parted eye .. . (IV.1.188). While it would take a whole other paper to debate whether ornot Demetrius is really in love with Helena in his drugged state, she at leastis convinced of his love. In the woods, Helena was sure that Demetrius vows ofadoration were to scorn her, and even as he claimed to love her, she lamentedWherefore speaks he this/To her he hates? (III.2.227-8). But thenext morning, she regards his vows with less doubt, and instead reflects thatshe has Found Demetrius, like a jewel/Mine own and not mineown.(IV.1.190). She acknowledges that Demetrius was lost to her own at onepoint, but more importantly she now knows that he is found. Helenas newacceptance of Demetrius love could be because his vows are much more concretethan they were in the woods. There Demetrius proclaimed his love through claimsof admiration and idolatry; using spin words of poets without real depth, likewhen he awakens and out of the blue declares Helena to be a goddess,nymph, perfect, divine . . . (III.2.137). In the morning his declarationscarry an air of more reason, and focus not on empty catch-phrases of beauty andpassion. Instead, Demetrius declares more what he feels, saying Now I dowish for Helenas love, love it, long for it, /And will for evermore be trueto it.(IV.1.174-5). His feelings of love are now more certain andconfident, thus he is able to express them with language more concrete.