Thomas Kits van Heyningen

Problem of God Professor Morici

Response Paper #4 The Case for Reparations
Ta-Nehisi Coates article The Case for Reparations is an in-depth, fascinating
look at the history of institutional and commercial racism levied against AfricanAmericans in the United States. It makes a compelling case that explains societal
ailments like the income gap and incarceration gap, focusing primarily on racist housing
policies perpetrated by the government to take advantage of African-Americans in the
pursuit of profit. It undoubtedly made me reconsider some of my own beliefs, and I now
feel much more well-versed on the history of the oft-mentioned discriminatory housing
policies that are viewed by many as the instigator for many of the problems that face
African-Americans today. In this article, Coates echoes many of the themes that Malcolm
X verbalized in his own autobiography and careerdiscussing white guilt and the
necessity of reparations to right the wrong of our nations first 250 years of prohibitive
racism.
Coates discusses the ways in which the racist ways of Americas past still rear its
head in todays economic climate. Coates delves into the ways that white America has
used the institutions that they controlmost notably banking, and the justice system, to
push and scare blacks back into a position of subservience and exploitation. Rooted deep
in the American identity is the maxim of pull yourself up by your bootstraps; fulfill the
elusive American dream and raise your social and economic standing. This is the
response that many people have continually given to an African American community
that struggles with poverty, drug abuse and high incarceration rates, but there are
compelling explanations for these issues on a macro level. From a micro level, it is easy

to point to an individual and advocate for them to make the decisions that will leave them
with opportunities to better themselves, but this approach treats the symptoms and not the
root cause, which is what the case for reparations is all about. Having been backed into
this socioeconomic status by years of racist policies, can the government feel absolved by
simply rescinding the policies, or does the situation call for a more active solution?
Malcolm Xs story is echoed in the writings of Coates, and he experienced
firsthand many of the discriminatory practices that are written about in this article. Both
pieces share the sentiment that the system was counterproductive to black social and
economic success in America, sometimes to the point of catastrophe. Coates points out
that whites who are born into wealthy families almost always stay in that same class their
entire life, while African Americans are much more likely to fall into areas of lower
socioeconomic status. Other sad truths, like the fact that whites with a criminal record
have about the same chance of being hired by a company as an African American with a
clean record give strength to Coates central thesis. From an early age, Malcolm X
experienced the ways in which the system has no care for the interests or prospects of
African-Americans. When he was six, Malcolms father was murdered under
questionable circumstances, possibly by white supremacists. There was no real
investigation into the killing, and it was officially marked down as a street-car accident.
When Malcolms mother tried to collect the life insurance they were owed, the creditors
cheated her out of the $1000 claim and ultimately refused to pay entirely, deciding that
the death was caused by a suicide. These stories illustrate the lack of power African
Americans had at this timethere was no institution in which they could confidently turn
to to receive justice; nobody they could trust to give a fair verdict with racist and

discriminatory mindsets dominating society. One of the most damaging aspects of

institutional racism is the effect it has in perpetuating racist actions by individuals. For
example, because property value and the presence of African Americans in a
neighborhood were heavily correlated, whites did everything they could do to keep them
away, even just for purely economic reasons that manifested themselves as racist actions.
Daisy and Bill Myers, the first black family to move into Levittown, Pennsylvania, were
greeted with protests and a burning cross. A neighbor who opposed the family said that
Bill Myers was probably a nice guy, but every time I look at him I see $2,000 drop off
the value of my house. In this instance, good citizens were incentivized to promote
racism and act in ways that might go against what they believe in, as the prospect of
economic loss loomed large for their community as a whole.
Malcolm X was a vocal supporter of reparations, and cited them as a solution to
even out the economic advantages that whites enjoy as a result of hundreds of years of
exploitation. "If you are the son of a man who had a wealthy estate and you inherit your
father's estate, you have to pay off the debts that your father incurred before he died. The
only reason that the present generation of white Americans are in a position of economic
strength...is because their fathers worked our fathers for over 400 years with no pay...We
were sold from plantation to plantation like you sell a horse, or a cow, or a chicken, or a
bushel of wheat...All that money...is what gives the present generation of American
whites the ability to walk around the earth with their chest out...like they have some kind
of economic ingenuity. Your father isn't here to pay. My father isn't here to collect. But
I'm here to collect and you're here to pay. Coates sees reparations as a broad term that
means a lot more than just moneyan approach that he believes would essentially be

hush money to soothe white guilt. Instead, he advocates for a much wider-scale
approach, focusing on reshaping the way we view ourselves. Reparationsby which I
mean the full acceptance of our collective biography and its consequencesis the price
we must pay to see ourselves squarely. His most powerful statement hits the soft spot of
the American psyche: our pride for our heritage and for our history as a source of good
in the world. Reparations would mean a revolution of the American consciousness, a
reconciling of our self-image as the great democratizer with the facts of our history.
In his article The Case for Reparations, Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses todays
racial climate, arguing that the crimes of the past are still very much relevant to the
position in which African-Americans find themselves today. In both experience and
sentiment, Coates argument carries on the philosophy that Malcolm X advocated over
fifty years ago, and reaches a similar conclusion about the necessity for reparations to
right the wrong of Americas past.