When people like me ask for reparations,
We are only asking for what is rightfully ours, what you rightfully ought to be doing and what you should have done right from the start!
Reparations are one way you can come clean about what you and your ancestors did and are benefitting from.
That is when I also ask myself, “Reparations – How can we do them right?”
Photo credit: NBC News
According to the United Nations, there are certain conditions that must be met in order for us to say that we are actually healing.
These are:
- Cessation, assurances guarantees of non-repetition.
- Restitution and repatriation.
- Compensation
- Satisfaction
- Rehabilitation
Photo credit: Health
Sierra Club dressed these conditions like this:
- Under the first condition, a state responsible for wrongfully injuring a people “is under an obligation to a) “cease the act if it is continuing, and, b) offer appropriate assurances and guarantees of non-repetition…”
- Under the second condition, restitution means to “re-establish the situation which existed before the wrongful act was committed.” Changes traced to the wrongful act are reversed through restoration of freedom, recognition of humanity, identity, culture, repatriation, livelihood, citizenship, legal standing, and wealth to the extent they can be, and if they cannot, restitution is completed by compensation.
- Under the third condition, the injuring state, institution or individual is obligated to compensate for the damage, if damage is not made good by restitution. Compensation is required for “any financially accessible damage suffered…” to the extent “appropriate and proportional to the gravity of the violation and circumstances.”
- Under the fourth condition, satisfaction is part of full reparations under international law for moral damage, such as “emotional injury, mental suffering, and injury to reputation.” In some instances where cessation, restitution, and compensation do not bring full repair, satisfaction is also needed. Apology falls under the reparative category of satisfaction.
- In the final condition, rehabilitation shall be provided to include legal, medical, psychological, and other care and services.
Photo credit: BSR
Over the years, we have seen what reparations are not.
That is where I ask myself this question;
Reparations – How can we do them right?
These are things that so many people like you have done either casually or out of being hand-twisted and they include:
Photo credit: USA Today
- Just saying sorry or feeling bad while avoiding accountability for individual or collective contributions to the violation, or while benefiting from the harm, whether through inheritance or ongoing privileges.
- Paying an individual Black person’s bills.
- Donating any amount of money to a Black institution. Unless accompanied by acts of repair, restitution, and efforts to leverage power, influence, and resources to ensure cessation and non-repetition, simply writing a check is not reparations.
Photo credit: The Washington Post
Remember, reparations are not a one-off thing since even your actions were not just a one-off thing.
It is one very long, uncomfortable process that we must all sit still in.
I believe in you.
We all can do this!
Good one
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I love this post. So many people balk when they hear reparations, but if they stop for a minute to think about the fact that most modern countries were built on the backs of slaves, I think they might have a different opinion.
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That is definitely a hard discussion for people to have. There are so many implications to the things done in the past that simple reparations don’t even begin to fix it unless the underlying attitude changes.
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Reparations can take numerous forms and it should definitely be an important topic to talk about among us. I agree, it’s an uncomfortable and difficult road to take but it is not impossible.
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This is interesting, I don’t like when people keep saying sorry or feeling bad to avoid it.
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This is a really great and interesting topic to talk about. Thanks for sharing this with us!
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What a powerful post. It’s good to keep this in mind that not every “nice” action is really helpful.
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Powerful and so well-written. Thank you for sharing.
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My country right now tries to get money from Germany as reparations since Poland had to go through a lot because of Germany in 1939-1945, I don’t think it’s possible, but looking from your point or my point, reparations are important – supporting businesses and people to grow is a good idea. I heard about how hard it is for Black and Asian students in universities, and what they have to deal with – I wish universities would focus on education not hate towards certain group of students. We live in 21st century and making a fund to help people go to better universities or start their own businesses is probably the best thing we can do 🙂
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We are also a nation that came out of a 40-year colonial rule. I actually teared up when I learned that our history is not far from how the Israelites were treated by the Egyptians in the Bible. Our ancestors were enslaved to build a walled city that was meant to protect our colonizers and keep our people out.
Reparations are being made here through the years, but years of pain cannot simply be healed in one day.
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A fascinating read; it opened my eyes to a topic many people shy away from; thanks for sharing & I love the images in this post!
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This is an excellent post and one which I think is sorely needed. While this is a topic I feel that my country (Northern Ireland) doesn’t necessarily address, it’s something we could all do with addressing. NI doesn’t feel it has an issue with racism, just sectarianism. But I beg to differ.
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These are all great thinking points that we should all be considering. It is good food for thought.
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Reparations are something that we really need to take into consideration. But of course, we should be open to it because not all are aware or open to talking about such. Reading something like this would be a great way to open the discussion to media.
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My son is an American Indian (from his dad’s side) and they get offered reparations. Not much, but enough to let their race know that the atrocities handed to them are remembered and trying to be made up for… there’s not many of that particular race left though. In our family, if my son doesn’t marry and American Indian woman, the lineage ends with him. It’s just that scarce.
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I totally agree with what you said. Reparations are importance especially if we want to move forward as people.
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This is well said. It got me thinking.
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I really like your point of view. This is truly a good post.
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Thank you for keeping the conversation alive on this important topic and sharing your views on it. I don’t think there can ever be reparations done that would make up for all the suffering and pain caused. But what I think is lacking is creating a better understanding of what took place and how gruesome it was. From that understanding, we can learn what it meant and from there we can find ways to work on the reparations and create better and equal conditions for all. But I agree with many of your points and also that it shouldn’t be avoided because it is uncomfortable, but it is extremely necessary to discuss and make sure it won’t happen again.
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Learning bout the ins and outs of reparations will help us become a fair player in business.
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