The enslavement of blacks in America lasted 246 years. It was followed by a century of legal racial segregation and discrimination. The two periods, taken together, constitute the longest running crime against humanity in the world over the last 500 years.
– Randall Robinson
Reparations are the central issue of race relations in America in the twentyfirst century. Until we address it seriously, we will continue to make only modest progress with some of the larger issues.
– Charles J. Ogletree Jr
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References
1.
By invoking the term Holocaust, we do not mean to privilege African slaves and their descendants above any other population group that includes the victims of genocide and other crimes against humanity, including Jews under Nazi rule or Native peoples under US and Canadian subjugation.
2.
The outlines of this essay appear in Michael T. Martin and Marilyn Yaquinto (eds), America’s Unpaid Debt: slavery and racial justice, Working Papers Series on Historical Systems, Peoples, and Cultures, nos. 14–16 ( Bowling Green State University , 2003).
3.
1 One observer has characterised the Bush administration’s social policies as ‘Populist Social Darwinism’, in which the administration ‘boasts of returning power to ordinary people, then pursues policies that will produce a few highly visible winners and unravel the social safety net, leaving the majority of people to fend for themselves,’ see John Powers , ‘ George of the jungle ’, LA Weekly (14 May 2003).
4.
2 Elements of this strategy, especially with regard to global economic policies preceded the Bush presidency. The strategy was formally enunciated in Bush’s 2002 State of the Union address and in ‘The national security strategy of the United States of America’, September 2002, see http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/terror/secstrat.htm.
5.
3 This agenda precedes the Bush presidency and has been espoused by Democrats and Republicans alike since the 1980s. Its de.ning regime includes privatisation, trade liberalisation, and deregulation – domestic and international. See Richard W. Behan , ‘ The triumph of the diligent dozen ’, AlterNet (6 June 2003), pp. 1–4
6.
Willliam O. Beeman , ‘ Who is Michael Ledeen? ’ Pacific News Service (8 May 2003).
7.
4 For a discussion of the Bush administration’s use of television and technology to promote his presidency, see Elisabeth Bumiller , ‘ Keepers of Bush image lift stagecraft to new heights ’, New York Times (16 May 2003).
8.
5 Samuel P. Huntington , ‘ The clash of civilizations? ’ Foreign Affairs (summer 1993), pp. 22–49
9.
expanded as The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order ( New York, Simon and Schuster , 1996).
10.
6 By demonising Iran and Syria, the administration seems to be signalling that these nations are next in its regional/global scheme. However, the Iraq war has unleashed a transnational counterhegemonic formation – a bloc comprised of Shi’ite majorities in Iran, Iraq and Bahrain, along with pluralities in Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. See William O. Beeman , ‘ The emerging Shi’ite powerhouse ’, Pacific News Service (21 May 2003).
11.
See also Immanuel Wallerstein , ‘ Entering global anarchy ’, New Left Review (No.22, 2003), pp. 27–35 .
12.
7 For a review of current federal efforts to profile Arab Muslim and South Asian communities, see Eleanor Stein , ‘ Construction of an enemy ’, Monthly Review (Vol. 55, no. 3, 2003), pp. 125–129 .
13.
8 See Michael K. Brown et al., Whitewashing Race: the myth of a color-blind society ( Berkeley, CA, University of California Press , 2003).
14.
9 See William Julius Wilson’s comments on reparations in Tim Lake and Marilyn Yaquinto , Racial Politics, Globalization, and the Urban Underclass: an interview with William Julius Wilson, Working Papers Series on Historical Systems, Peoples, and Cultures, no. 13 ( Bowling Green State University , 2003).
15.
10 In relation to this, see the examination by Charles W. Mills of the analytical limitations of mainstream models of racism and Marxist orthodoxy, ‘Racial exploitation and the wages of whiteness’, in Michael T. Martin and Marilyn Yaquinto (eds), America’s Unpaid Debt: slavery and racial justice, Working Papers Series on Historical Systems, Peoples and Cultures, nos. 14–16 ( Bowling Green State University , 2003).
16.
11 For a brief historical overview of racial preferences, see ‘A long history of af. rmative action – for whites’, Race – the Power of an Illusion ( San Francisco, CA, California Newsreel , 2003), <http://www.newsreel.org/guides/race/whiteadv.htm> (20 August 2003).
17.
12 Emphasis in original. For full text, see ‘ Restatement of the Black Manifesto ’, Trans-Africa Forum, 2000 <http://www.transafricaforum.org/reports/roundtable011100_manifesto.shtml> (12 August 2003).
18.
13 ‘ The case for Black reparations ’, see transcript of Proceedings, TransAfrica Forum, 2000. <http://www.transafricaforum.org/reports/print/reparations_print.shtml> (18 August 2003).
19.
14 Ibid.
20.
15 Ibid.
21.
16 Ibid.
22.
17 John Conyers, ‘The proposed reparations study commission’, see http://www.blackvoices.com/feature/reparations/legislation and http://www.house.gov/conyers/news_reparations.htm(17 July 2003).
23.
18 Henry Louis Gates, Jr , ‘ The future of slavery’s past ’, New York Times (29 July 2001), Op-Ed section.
24.
19 See John David Smith , ‘ The enduring myth of ‘‘forty acres and a mule’ ’’, Chronicle of Higher Education (21 February 2003), p. B11 .
25.
20 Ibid., p. B11.
26.
21 Ibid., p. B11.
27.
22 See Robert S. Browne , ‘A case for separation’, in Robert S. Browne and Bayard Rustin , Separatism or Integration: which way for America? – a dialogue ( New York, A. Philip Randolph Educational Fund , 1968), pp. 7–15.
28.
Some black nationalists of this period took inspiration from an earlier emigrationist movement led by Marcus Garvey during the 1920s. His Universal Negro Improvement Association endeavoured to establish a homeland for African Americans in Liberia. For an analysis of this movement, see Ibrahim Sundiata’s recent study , Brothers and Strangers: Black Zion, Black Slavery, 1914–1940 ( Durham, NC, Duke University Press , 2004)
29.
Robert A. Hill and Barbara Bair (eds), Marcus Garvey: life and lessons ( Berkeley, CA, California University Press , 1987)
30.
Robert A. Hill (ed.), The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Volume IX ( Berkeley, CA, California University Press , 1995).
31.
23 See the seminal texts by Robert Blauner , ‘ Internal colonialism and ghetto revolt ’, Social Problems (Vol. 15, no. 4, 1969), pp. 393–408 .
32.
Stokeley Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton , Black Power: the politics of liberation in America ( New York, Random House , 1967)
33.
see also Blauner’s recent book, in which he assesses his earlier views and assumptions about race relations in the contemporary period, Still the Big News: racial oppression in America ( Berkeley, CA, University of California Press , 2001).
34.
24 See Neal Conan , ‘ Corporate reparations for slavery ’, Talk of the Nation, National Public Radio (3 April 2002).
35.
25 David Horowitz , quoted in ‘ Harvard professor, reparations group .le suit ’, Harvard Crimson (25 February 2003).
36.
26 E. R. Shipp , ‘ Does America owe us? ’ Essence (February 2003), p. 126 .
37.
27 Tamar Lewin , ‘ Calls for slavery restitution getting louder ’, New York Times (4 June 2001).
38.
28 Ibid.
39.
29 Glenn C. Loury , ‘ It’s futile to put a price on slavery ’, New York Times (29 May 2000).
40.
30 Ibid.
41.
31 See Ginger Thompson , ‘ South Africa to pay $3,900 to each family of apartheid victims ’, New York Times (16 April 2003).
42.
32 See, for example, Randall N. Robinson’sDebt: what America owes to Blacks ( New York, Dutton , 2000)
43.
Doreen Carvajal , ‘ Slavery’s truths (and tales) come flocking home ’, New York Times (28 March 1999).
44.
33 Conyers, ‘The proposed reparations study commission’, op. cit.
45.
34 Ibid.
46.
35 See, for example, Alan Singer , ‘ 19th Century New York City’s complicity with slavery: documenting the case for reparations ’, Negro Educational Review (Vol. 54, nos. 1–2, 2003), pp. 17–29 .
47.
36 Michael A. Fletcher , ‘Calls for reparations grow louder as Blacks tally slavery’s toll’, International Herald Tribune (27 December 2000).
48.
37 Lewin, ‘Calls for slavery restitution getting louder’, op. cit.
49.
38 See Charles J. Ogletree Jr , ‘ Litigating the legacy of slavery ’, New York Times (31 March 2002), Op-Ed section.
50.
39 Adrian Brune , ‘ Tulsa’s shame, race riot victims still wait for promised reparations ’, Nation (18 March 2002), pp. 11–14 .
51.
40 Ibid., p. 12.
52.
41 See Adrian Brune , ‘ A long wait for justice ’, Village Voice (30 April 2003), pp. 1–2 .
53.
42 Tavis Smiley , ‘ Al Brody and Charles Ogletree discuss the issue of slavery reparations and the race riots of 1921 in Oklahoma ’, Tavis Smiley Show, National Public Radio (26 February 2003).
54.
43 Lewin, ‘Calls for slavery restitution getting louder’, op. cit.
55.
44 Ibid.
56.
45 Ibid.
57.
46 Conan, ‘Corporate reparations for slavery’, op. cit.
58.
47 Ogletree, ‘Litigating the legacy of slavery’, op. cit.
59.
48 Conan, ‘Corporate reparations for slavery’, op. cit.
60.
49 Ibid. See also Brent Stables , ‘ Wrestling with the legacy of slavery at Yale ’, New York Times (14 August 2001), Editorials/Letters
61.
Kate Zernike , ‘ Slavers in Yale’s past are focus of reparations debate ’, New York Times (13 August 2001).
62.
50 See Charles Cobb, Jr , ‘ Fight for global justice is TransAfrica’s immense task, says Danny Glover ’, TransAfrica Forum (15 November 2002), <http://www.transafricaforum.org/newsletter/taf_allafrica111502.shtml>(August 18, 2003).
63.
51 For the full text of the Freedom Agenda, see ‘The Freedom Agenda of the Black Radical Congress’, Black Radical Congress National Council, April 17, 1999. Founded in Chicago in 1998, the BRC’s stated objective is to unify progressives, including ‘revolutionary nationalists’, ‘radical Black feminists and womanists’, ‘socialists and communists’, radical intellectuals, and black workers http://www.blackradicalcongress.org/
64.
52 Glover delivered the keynote address on ‘Peace, reparations and justice’.
65.
53 See the call for the conference, ‘War, racism and repression: confronting the U.S. empire!’, p. 2 . <http://eblackstudies.org/brc/.ghtback/>.
66.
54 Brent Stables , ‘America, too, should pay reparations for its past’, International Herald Tribune (25 July 2000).
67.
Note that in 1953 the German Bundestag approved a ‘restitution law’ to compensate thousands of persons persecuted under Nazi rule, in addition to the West German-Israeli reparations agreement in which Israel received $822,000,000 to resettle Jews in Israel, see ‘Reparations for war loss’, International Herald Tribune, .rst published 31 July 1953 and reprinted 31 July 2003.
68.
55 President Bula was later imprisoned and died in a military prison in Nigeria. The Group included Mazrui, the former first lady of Mozambique and South Africa Graciel Mandela and Miriam Makeba. See ‘The case for black reparations’, op. cit., p. 8.
69.
56 For an overview of ARM’s history, aims and objectives, see ‘About the Africa Reparations Movement’, Africa Reparations Movement <http://www.arm.arc.co.uk/about.html> (17 July 2003).
70.
57 WCAR was organised in two parts: the NGO Forum (27 August–1 September) and the intergovernmental conference (1–8 September), 2001. WCAR is the third of three UN-sponsored world conferences to combat racism and racial discrimination. The first was held in Geneva in 1973 and the second also in Geneva, in 1983.
71.
58 See for example ‘Evaluating the WCAR NGO forum (and preparing for the WSSD)’, www.anc.org.za
72.
and for a favourable view of the conference, see Samir Amin , ‘ World Conference Against Racism: a people’s victory ’, Monthly Review (Vol. 53, no. 7, 2001), pp. 20–23 .
73.
59 For an overview of the conference and discussion of issues, see Lakisha Lightner et al, ‘ United Nations Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance ’, TransAfrica Forum (October 2001)
74.
Eric Mann , Dispatches from Durban: firsthand commentaries on the World Conference Against Racism and post-September 11 movement strategies (Los Angeles, Frontline Press, 2002).
75.
60 Ibid., p. 7.
76.
61 Ibid.
77.
62 Fidel Castro , ‘ The roots of international racism ’, Monthly Review (Vol. 53, no. 1, 2001), p. 24 .
78.
63 Of the 166 nations represented, the US sent a mid-level delegation which withdrew, along with the Israeli delegation, because it objected to statements in the draft declaration condemning Israeli state practices as racist. Several, especially African American, critics contend that reparations was the principal motive for the US delegation’s withdrawal, to undermine the conference; see Steven Inskeep , ‘ UN conference on racism and reparations for slavery ’ (transcript), Talk of the Nation (4 September 2001), p. 3 .
79.
For an overview of the experiences of the members of a delegation of southern activists from the US, along with their views about the contentious issues debated at the WCAR see Report on the REJN Delegation to the United Nations World Conference Against Racism (Durham, NC, Southeast Regional Economic Justice Network, March 2002).
80.
64 See Declaration , World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, No. 13 (United Nations, 2001), p. 6 <http://www.un.org/WCAR/> (28 August 2003)
81.
see also Rachel L. Swarns , ‘ Overshadowed, slavery debate boils at racism conference ’, New York Times (6 September 2002)
82.
Justin Podur , ‘ Non-reformist reparations for Africa ’, Z Magazine (February 2002).
83.
65 Declaration, op. cit, p. 18.
84.
66 Critics argue that in the drafting process, ‘First World issues were dominant’, and that in the Declaration itself ‘the problem of racism [is] overwhelmingly from the point of view of marginalized minorities in the developed countries. Third world perspectives, and especially African perspectives, are largely absent’, see ‘Evaluating the WCAR NGO forum (and preparing for the WSSD)’, op. cit., p. 3.
85.
67 Rachel L. Swarns , ‘ After much wrangling, an accord at UN race meeting ’, New York Times (9 September 2001).
86.
68 Ogletree, ‘Litigating the legacy of slavery’, op. cit.
87.
69 See two reports about the conference and this issue, Barbara Makeda Blake Hannah , ‘ Reparations movement at a crossroads’; and Sam Anderson and Muntu Matsimela, ‘The reparations movement: an assessment of recent and current activism ’, Socialism and Democracy (Vol. 17, no. 1, 2003), pp. 270–273 .
88.
70 Ibid., p. 272.
89.
71 Stan Winer , ‘ Seeking justice for apartheid ’, Alternet (24 June 2002) <http://www.alternet.org> (12 August 2003).
90.
72 Apartheid Debt & Reparations Campaign , ‘Major apartheid reparations suit filed in US court’, press release, (12 November 2002).
91.
73 For a review of the lawsuit, see Apartheid Debt & Reparations Campaign, ‘ Complaint summary’, press statement (12 November 2002) <http://www.transafricaforum.org/newsletter/Apartheid_Claim_Filed_021112.doc
92.
and for a complete list of defendants, see Apartheid Debt & Reparations Campaign, ‘Summary of defendants’, press release (12 November 2002) http://www.kosa.org/documents/SummaryofDefendents021111.doc
93.
74 Thompson, ‘South Africa to pay $3,900 to each family of apartheid victims’, op. cit.
94.
75 Ibid.
95.
76 Anderson and Matsimela , ‘The reparations movement: an assessment of recent and current activism’, op. cit., p. 266.
96.
77 Ibid., p. 274.
97.
78 Ibid., p. 268.
98.
79 ‘ Remarks by Danny Glover before national press club ’, TransAfrica Forum (12 November 2002), p. 4 <http://www.transafricaforum.org/newsletter/dg_pressclub111202.shtml> (28 August 2003).
99.
80 Estimates of restitution for lost wages to slaves range from $2–4 trillion. A model, based on intergenerational transfers of wealth, determined that the average compensation to a two-adult black family would be about $35,000. See Dalton Conley , ‘ The cost of slavery ’, New York Times (15 February 2003).
100.
81 Ibid.
101.
82 Anderson and Matsimela , ‘The reparations movement: an assessment of recent and current activism’, op. cit., p. 264. This is also likely to happen with lawsuits filed in other nations as well.
102.
83 Ibid., p. 264–5.
103.
84 Ibid., p. 270
104.
see Shipp , ‘Does America owe us?’, op. cit., pp. 1–3 for two opposing views of the rally.
105.
85 Ibid., p. 261.
106.
86 See Gerald Horne , ‘Race for power: the global balance of power and reparations’, in Martin and Yaquinto, op. cit., pp. 79–90.
107.
87 See Richard L. Vazquez , ‘ Justice for Japanese Latinos ,’ LasCulturas.com (2001) <http://www.lasculturas.com/aa/aa060701a.php> (23 August 2002). Germans and Italians were also deported from Latin America to the US.
108.
88 See Eric K. Yamamoto’s statement in ‘The case for black reparations’, [transcript], op. cit., pp. 7–8.
109.
89 Oruno D. Lara , ‘ In defense of reparations ’, Renaissance Noire (Vol. 3, no. 3, 2001), p. 157 .
