Essay Sample on Reparations: A Need for Federal Government to Compensate African Descendants

Introduction

Reparation is a concept that refers to the provision of compensation to descendants of African communities and African Americans who were slaves during the slavery period. Countries such as the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) thrived on the trafficking of slaves from Africa through the slave trade(Coates, 2014). Despite the number of years that have passed, the issue of reparations remains unresolved.

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The federal government should pay reparations to men and woman who are descendants of African slaves. The money should come from entities that exist due to their exploitation of slave labor and taking advantage of the African American community(Howard, 2019). The government can also make payments as part of a plan to make up for past social injustices that minorities endured

The US needs to make reparations to the families and descendants of enslaved African Americans. It should apply the same approach used when apologizing to the Japanese population(Qureshi, 2013). Reparations is a way of acknowledging that the system was oppressive, and it significantly disadvantaged African Americans("Should the US have to compensate black Americans for slavery?", 2019). Slavery reparations can serve as a step toward initiating national cohesion and forgiveness(Howard-Hassmann, 2019). Besides, the country owes these families given the impact that their input has had on the economic development of the US.

Some people oppose the making of reparations to former slaves and their descendants. The argument is that the use of cash reparations translates to increased government spending. These sentiments are common among racist citizens who believe that African Americans do not deserve compensation since slave owners paid them for their labor. They also argue that it could further divide the country("Fiery debate at US slavery reparations hearing", 2019).

A freeman is a term that refers to an individual who was not under the rules and obligations of the serfdom. Given that any statue laws did not bind them, freemen had to fend for themselves, yet they had no money. Thus, they had to operate and survive under hostile conditions.

References

Coates, T. (2014). The case for reparations. Retrieved 29 September 2019, from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/

Fiery debate at US slavery reparations hearing. (2019). Retrieved 29 September 2019, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48665802

Howard, R. (2019). Why reparations to African-Americans are necessary -- how to start now. Retrieved 29 September 2019, from http://theconversation.com/why-reparations-to-african-americans-are-necessary-how-to-start-now-119581

Howard-Hassmann, R. (2019). Why Japanese-Americans received reparations and African-Americans are still waiting. Retrieved 29 September 2019, from https://qz.com/1670434/why-african-americans-are-still-waiting-for-slavery-reparations/

Qureshi, B. (2013). From wrong to right: A US apology for Japanese internment. Retrieved 29 September 2019, from https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/09/210138278/japanese-internment-redress

Should the US have to compensate black Americans for slavery? (2019). Retrieved 29 September 2019, from https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/compensate-black-americans-slavery-190619220758130.html