Wednesday, February 19, 1997
JUSTICE:
Reparations
remain delinquent; it’s time to make amends
Imani is a young man-child entering the prime of his life. One
day, however, he is kidnapped and taken to a far-off land, and for
years, relegated to labor without compensation. Today, Imani has
his freedom, but we waits … he waits to collect on the debt owed
him. Imani’s logic is grounded in the foundations of American
economics principles, ones that applied to everyone except him and
the other African captives with whom he toiled. Imani and the
generations of African descendants he represents have long
struggled to reach a resolution with their captors on the issue of
economic exploitation and inhumane captivity.
America has failed to honor its debt to the survivors of the
African holocaust, commonly referred to as slavery. The American
government of today and its people are the beneficiaries of the
atrocities committed and profits reaped from the forced labor of
African slaves; and as such must atone and make amends to the
descendants of that exploitation.
The argument in favor of African people’s reparations has root
in historical fact. The Freedman’s Bureau Act passed by the U.S.
Congress on March 3, 1865 and signed by President Lincoln
authorized the distribution of confiscated Confederate territory
into 40 acre plots. In addition to 40 acres, former slaves were to
receive a mule, free health and education services. All hopes were
quickly dashed with the withdrawal of federal troops from the
South, and the re-entrenchment of white supremacy.
African people are supported in their quest, by the recent
example of the Japanese-American and Sioux people. Japanese
Americans were awarded $1.2 billion for damages and property lost
while interned during World War II. The Supreme Court, in 1980,
ordered the federal government to pay $105 million to the Sioux
nation for land stolen by Congress in 1877. Affirmative action is
the closest African people have come to anything that looked like
reparations. But it was not reparations, since it ignored the
issues of slavery. Affirmative action programs were the only
admission of wrong doing on the part of white America against those
of us descending from African slaves. Yet, it was hardly an
acknowledgment of guilt or a sign of remorse. This meager
concession on the part of an unyielding power structure was
eventually used to address every social inequality.
So how can the debt be settled? One answer is to exempt black
folks from paying income tax. In fact, there is no basis for us to
pay taxes. We are in this country by force and were not given the
choice to be citizens. This is unlike any other group in America,
except indigenous people. Immigrants chose to travel to this
country and by applying for citizenship accept the income tax;
whereas Africans were imported to America and forced to serve as
slaves. However, monetary compensation is little condolence for the
horrors of our holocaust.
Land, education and an apology are all essential elements in any
reparations package. The free labor of African slaves, land and
resources are principal factors in the economic wealth of this
country. African people are entitled to the use of our labor for
our own benefit, and land is the basis of our economic viability.
Free and unlimited educational opportunities are necessary to lift
the shroud of ignorance created by slavery and Jim Crow. America
needs to make an apology, verbal and written, to show that it is
sincere about atonement. Without an apology, we cannot overcome the
mountain of animosity that stands between us all.
In light of the recent passage of Proposition 209 and O.J. being
found liable, it may appear senseless on my part to even attempt a
discussion of reparations. Yet, I can not think of a better time.
The vast gulf of opinions that separates America along racial
lines, was glaringly obvious by the two aforementioned events. They
have prompted many to question the state of race relations and what
that means for the country as a whole. I offer that the key to
understanding America’s racial predicament lies within the debate
of reparations for people of African descent. It is impossible to
make such inquires without examining the experience of slavery and
the legacy of Jim Crow; and then analyzing how they lay the
foundation for the contemporary issues confronting people of
African descent and our relationship with the rest of America. To
quote the Oakland-based hip-hop group The Coup, "The crack that did
the damage was the one from the whip."
Allow me to stress, that I firmly believe that black folks in
America are bound together by much more than our experience and
struggles against white supremacy. Principally, we are a distinct
people because of our shared African ancestry and heritage. This
not only unites those of African descent within the United States,
but inextricably links us to all others in the Diaspora and the
continent of Africa. Under slavery "normal" familial relations were
not able to develop as they would under ordinary circumstances.
Slave owners disregarded the humanity of their African captives and
regularly separated persons sharing biological kinship, helping to
create a collective familial identity amongst members of the slave
community. Additionally, within many West African societies the
individual is defined in relation to their ethnic group. These two
facts contribute greatly to the "collective-oriented" psyche of
African people in America.
When lynchings, castrations, quartering and burning of African
men alive was in vogue, did the vigilante mobs need a court
conviction when a person of African descent was charged with taking
a white life or the virtue of a white woman? NO! Under such vicious
conditions it became necessary for people of African descent to
hold together tight. In an environment where everything about us
was (and many times still are) regarded as vile, our collectivity
became a requirement for survival. This reality led James Weldon
Johnson in "The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man" to state: "I
could understand why Negroes are led to sympathize with even their
worst criminals and protect them when possible. By all the impulses
of normal human nature they can and should do nothing less."
America’s peculiar "rules of race" strip marginalized people of
personal identities and lumps them together. That people of African
descent view each other as individuals is irrelevant when dealing
with white America, because in their eyes we are a homogenous gob.
The fact that I have never snatched anyone’s purse, doesn’t
preclude white women from clutching theirs when I pass them on the
street. Although I have $100 plus a Wells Fargo Visa in my pocket,
I am still followed around department stores. This is what is meant
when I say "personal identity is tied to group legacy." African
people know that We are individuals with unique voices and distinct
personalities. Additionally, We are keenly aware (and constantly
reminded) of our membership within the black community. That one of
our brethren may be a thief makes us one in the eyes many.
As oppressed people our personal lives are often made political,
causing us to speak with two voices at once. The voice most often
heard is of African people defending ourselves, in the face of
white supremacy’s horrific onslaught. The second, and often most
overlooked, voice is that of my own. My voice, at times, runs
congruent with other Africans’ and in an instance can diverge,
taking a course all its own. Why? Because my struggle is influenced
by where I am placed in life. Race is just one factor among many.
Gender, class, sexual orientation, religious and family background
all contribute to who Jioni is. But, Jioni and Jioni’s struggle can
never be disconnected from African people as a whole. Culturally,
politically and socially we are united. All African people have two
very distinct voices. It is not for you to decide who We are and
speak for. No! Your job is to listen to what We are saying, that
is, if you are sincere about moving forward on the race issue.
Will African people ever receive our 40 acres and a mule? I
can’t say for sure. We certainly are more than deserving. At the
very least, the debate surrounding the reparations issue will
create a dialogue that is long over due.