LogFAQs > #931177058

*Shrug* A lot of people seem to not understand the point of reparations, largely due to ignorance about history, law, and society at large, particularly post-Civil War stuff.

I'll put it as simply as possible. You know how when someone is treated like garbage by someone else, the victim or the family members of the victims can sue for damages? Reparations are kind of like that, just on a broader scale due to the pervasive systemic effects of slavery, Jim Crow (red-lining, etc), and use of the exceptions written in the Constitution allowing for the continued enslavement of black people by abusing the justice system (aka, mass incarceration in for profit prisons). It's not about "handouts" anymore than the parents of Sandy Hook victims suing Alex Jones is a matter of "handouts." It's a matter of justice.

As for my personal thoughts on it, I don't object to reparations, though I have mixed feelings about its implementation (personally I think the subject does need to be studied more first. Cory Booker is not a politician I like but he's right in that it ought to be studied thoroughly before we attempt to implement it on a broad scale). In particular I think that reparations need to be implemented in such a way that predatory organizations can't get their hands on the money. That is something that happens a lot with systems like this- probably the most obvious example is predatory groups preying on people of color from red-lined areas that have lead poisoning, with Freddie Grey being the standout instance:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f2a6/66d0c425cdb7e8f19bae3878f56df2e36c94.pdf
If reparations are to be done, then they ought to be done properly so that the money/resources in question actually get into the hands of the people they're meant to.

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Hi