I am posing the question, should former slaves or their descendants be compensated for injustice and immoral acts imposed upon them? I am interested in the many variations of responses that I will receive from those I survey. The purpose of my study is to determine people’s attitudes about reparations for slavery.

The issue of slavery reparations is very important to society because of the political, economic, and social implications. The concern politically is whether or not paying reparations is justifiable.

Others in opposition just feel monetary reparations are not a sensible way to address historical wrongs. It has been said that reparations could deepen the racial division that Americans should seek to erase (Rauch 2001). It is feared that people who enslaved no one would be forced to pay damages to people who were never slaves. However, paying the living victims with money and an apology would be just and reasonable.

Advocates of reparations for slavery have received a small percentage of Congressional support. Randall Robinson is the author of the book The Debt: What America Owes Blacks Robinson addresses the fact that many agree slavery was wrong and it is morally correct to pay victimized groups such as Holocaust survivors, Native Americans, and Japanese Americans for their suffering, but do not want to pay blacks. He explains how the legacy of slavery continues to saddle many with poor schools, a drug and crime plague, a high rate of blacks in prison, family deterioration, and racially isolated neighborhoods. Randall Robinson points out the fact that the United States government has never paid slaves what they were owed, and there is no statue of limitations set. However, there are precedents set to collect restitution for the suffering of African-Americans.

Slavery is still and always will be a sensitive topic for African-Americans and White Americans. It is a part of history that cannot be ignored, forgotten, nor erased. Solutions to racial problems are possible, but only if society can be brought to face up to the massive crime of slavery and the legacy it left behind. No race, ethnic group, nor religious group has suffered so much over so long of a span as African-Americans (Robinson 2000). Many Blacks are still suffering. Slavery is an institution that the United States government has protected and nurtured for centuries (Hutchinson 2001). Many thousands of people were dehumanized. Former slaves made attempts to collect reparations for their suffering and hard work. The government and many companies profited from the sweat of the slaves labor. The Cotton Tax Case, Southern Homestead Act, and the Black Manifesto are proof of the attempts made by African American slaves to be compensated. The United States government recognizes that there is a debt and precedents have been set to honor the claim. It has yet to be reconciled.

Some topics in this essay:
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