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Make no doubt about it, to guide a reparations plan
through Congress and to get a president to sign off on it
would be a Herculean task to say the least!
Why? Because it is tantamount to an official apology by
the US government that the illegal buying and selling of
dark-skinned human beings was wrong and their subsequent
treatment after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed was
both morally reprehensible and against all norms of human
decency and fairness.
During any precedent discussions about reparations and
its implementation, you would encounter a steel-willed
opposition that would engage in histrionics to kill any bill
that would compensate millions of African Americans with
trillions of dollars for their losses, both tangible and
intangible.
Just as the law allows a victim of a car crash accident
to claim monetary damages for both visible injuries and
property damages, that same law also allows for the recovery
of mental and emotional losses, pain and suffering and
hedonic losses.
The same analogy could be and should be used to develop
a “payment matrix” that would insure that all confirmed
victims of America’s unique system of racial hegemony and
brutal subjugation for hundreds of years would be adequately
compensated for.
Every injury, slight or otherwise, could not be
compensated for, but the discussion must include those
psychic damages, loss of life and injuries intentionally
done by actors of the federal government, state governments
and local municipalities
Those entities passed egregious laws that killed,
maimed and stunted the opportunity of people of color to
simply live without the hourly reminder that their lives
were of no value or consequence to a white society; and that
their lives or that of their family members could be snuffed
out at a moment’s notice at the whim of a racist police
officer or an angry mob.
In discussing reparations, it is the story of the
victims that needs to be told and heard so that the
horribleness of what transpired can be recorded for the sake
of posterity.
So, with that in mind, I have proposed several
financial devices that could be an aid
in discussing how the government (federal, state and local
governments were and are all complicit in this human
tragedy) can make sincere attempts to come to grips with
America’s unique racial nightmare and dilemma.
One: The issuance of Treasury notes, bills and
US bonds that are sold to the general public and to foreign
governments who should be permitted to buy such “paper.”
This venue alone could raise hundreds of billions of dollars
in ready cash.
Two: The establishment of a blue-ribbon
commission composed of sociologists, historians, economists,
actuaries, lawyers, archeologists, representatives from
repositories of archived information (museums, photographs,
oral recordings and public records) that would establish
criteria as to who qualifies for reparations and why they so
qualify.
Remember, this Number Two is a toughie since it involves
determining numerically the people of color (including the
harm done to the Native Americans and whether those who are
“passing” for white), who can claim any benefits.
Three:
The establishment of a national bank with state branches by
which people of color can receive credits for interest free
home loans and grants to establish businesses and to buy
land.
Four:
The pardoning and the granting of commutation of criminal
sentencings that were determined to have been sentenced by
unfair judges or juries, both past and present. This
includes exonerating innocent victims of racist judicial
systems and “kangaroo courts.”
Five:
The establishment of a
judicial tribunal which would oversee claims that victims of
racism could present regarding their property being
wrongfully taken without due process of law. (Note: many
successful black towns were intentionally burned down or
ransacked by
white mobs with the tacit approval of local and state
governments which turned a blind eye to such lawlessness).
Six:
The establishment of an
educational fund that would provide free tuition and room
and board to students to enter both two year and four-year
degree colleges; and also includes hefty financial grants to
the historically black colleges and universities so they
could continue the laudable goals of educating people of
color when majority white universities said either, “No!” or
made their successful matriculation at their educational
sites nigh impossible or very difficult.
Seven:
A proclamation by the US Congress on behalf of the American
people, past and present, that American slavery was a sin
against both the enslaved and against God and for which the
American government now repents of and wishes to correct the
record.
Eight:
Yearly appropriations by Congress of sums certain that would
be used to perpetuate this payment plan until the goals of
the plan have been substantially fulfilled.
Nine:
A sum certain to be paid to the most directly affected
African countries that American slavers profited from
regarding hundreds of years of human trafficking from their
shores.
Ten:
A national holiday to remind everyone of one of the world’s
biggest holocausts whose victims, by their forced and unpaid
labor and creativity, allowed America to aggregate a
critical financial mass that allowed it to become the
world’s financial behemoth.
Eleven:
The financial provision for any African Americans to return
to Africa with enough funds to allow a reasonable lifestyle
commensurate with the median income of the local population.
Twelve:
Funding of academic studies regarding the study of
African-American history on the North American continent
with an emphasis on the effects of slavery in the United
States.
So, if and when the discussions of reparations gains
any traction, be on the look out for the ways and means by
which it could be implemented and be wary and ready for the
intense blitz of negativity that would come from those who
claim that slavery is over and done with and thus no group
of people or their progeny should be compensated for any
losses.
Contact Lafe Tolliver at
tolliver@juno.com
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