Reparations Revisited — Policy Our Nation Needs

On Wednesday, June 19th, 2019, the House Judiciary Committee hosted the first-ever hearing on the idea of reparations for slavery and the perpetual injustices caused by the federal government through Jim Crow. The room was packed with activists, tensions were high, and a significant chunk of the conservative representatives was absent.

The topic of reparations has remained an active topic in the American political sphere recently since the 2014 essay by Ta-Nehisi Coates “The Case for Reparations.” During one of my first ever blog posts over a year and a half ago, I wrote about a few brief arguments that have been shared about why reparations must happen, linked here. Coates’ essay was and is still one of the most important pieces in my own growth as a writer and learner. Yesterday, he, along with several others, testified to the merits of this discussion. He went after the recent comments Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the day prior, saying:

“He was alive for the redlining of Chicago and the looting of black homeowners of some $4 billion. Victims of their plunder…