Eliot Sherman: The legacy of slavery and the case for reparations

How's this for going out with a bang: the United States of America should engage in some sort of reparations program in response to the 246 years of slavery endured by blacks in this country.

The logistics are staggering, of course, and that is what turns many people off to the idea. The thought of every black person in this country receiving a check for the modern day equivalent of 40 acres and a mule is irksome to many, and by that, I mean there would be riots in the street.

However, it is not unprecedented for ethnic groups to be recompensed in some manner: in 1988, Congress decided to pay aggrieved Japanese Americans $20,000 in compensation for internment during World War II.

And I'm trying to be really objective here, but wasn't the state of Israel in a sense a form of reparation? The point is, some steps have been taken to address the tragedy that befell Jewish and Japanese-American citizens, and I think similar steps should be taken in regard to the black community.

Another example: it is curious to me that this government maintains a Bureau of Indian Affairs within the Department of the Interior (named Indians, remember, because one European explorer got confused). Indians who were driven off their land by the U.S. Cavalry have justly received some sort of compensation for the historical injustices that befell them.

I do not mean to belittle those events, but wouldn't it be reasonable to expect the same return for the sanctioned lynching, burnings, indiscriminant killings and forced toil imposed upon slaves in this country?

One of the reasons the very idea of reparations is such an affront to most people is because it is unfair to saddle those with little or no inborn prejudice with the task of reconciling the tragic manifestations of past injustices. It's true; it is unfair. But so was slavery, and pointing to the fact that you don't own slaves and have plenty of black friends isn't enough.

Slavery and its legacy permeate every aspect of race relations in America today. It is still quite palpable, as much as we'd like to assume that we've corrected racial disparity and everything is hunky dory.

I always defend the Declaration of Independence against those who decry the hypocrisy inherent in slave owners declaring the inalienable rights of men. Judge it by the standards of its time, not ours, and it remains a revolutionary change in thought (with a little help, of course, from Locke's Second Treatise).

And yet, there is some truth to that criticism. To me, the damage is deeper than the hypocrisy: all men are created equal, but that doesn't apply to the guy serving me tea because he is something less than a man. That kind of thinking does damage for generations and cannot be removed with laws of emancipation.

This is not about to be solved overnight; after all, politics, as political scientist Max Weber reminds us, is the slow boring of hard boards. But if there were a quick fix, my solution would be simple: why can't we leave affirmative action alone and call it a day? I mean, it's always puzzled me why affirmative action raises such a fervent debate while the longer-held tradition of legacy admissions fails to get people similarly outraged.

But it's not about easy answers; it's about tough questions. Go ahead and call me a bleeding-heart liberal or an apologist or anything else you damn well please. I won't lose any sleep over it because in the end, I win. Before you picked up this paper, you weren't thinking about this, and now you are, even if it's only to disagree with me vehemently.

I know this is a divisive and contentious issue for all. Maybe you're black and affronted by the idea that you need any help of any sort. Maybe you're white, not racist and don't feel guilty about the sins of the past. But I think that the root of this problem goes beyond individuals to the institution of racism and its lasting effects. Ask your sociology professor; I'm sure he will have an opinion on the matter.

The bottom line is that slavery, possibly the darkest chapter in American history, is a wrong that has yet to be righted. The sins of the past still affect us and will continue to do so until we correct them. There are no easy answers this time.

My editor hesitated to run this column today for fear that it might give the impression that it's been held until the last minute when there won't be time to respond. If that's the impression you get, my e-mail address appears at the bottom of this column, and your postings are welcome as always on our Web site.

Eliot Sherman is a sophomore from Philadelphia, Pa.

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