Sharecropper boys in 1936 (Carly Mydans/Library of Congress)
Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole. by:By Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic
This is an article that I highly recommend you read intently. You will be informed and enlightened. If you’re not into buying magazines then you should definitely read it online. I have also included one of the videos from the webpage.
Some of the highlighted points in the article are:
The devastating effects are cogently outlined by Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas M. Shapiro in their 1995 book, Black Wealth/White Wealth:
Locked out of the greatest mass-based opportunity for wealth accumulation in American history, African Americans who desired and were able to afford home ownership found themselves consigned to central-city communities where their investments were affected by the “self-fulfilling prophecies” of the FHA appraisers: cut off from sources of new investment[,] their homes and communities deteriorated and lost value in comparison to those homes and communities that FHA appraisers deemed desirable.
The past two decades have witnessed a rollback of the progressive legislation of the 1960s. Liberals have found themselves on the defensive. In 2008, when Barack Obama was a candidate for president, he was asked whether his daughters—Malia and Sasha—should benefit from affirmative action. He answered in the negative.
“Negro Poverty is not White Poverty” Lyndon B. Johnson
Needless to say, this article brings a lot into perspective on the case for reparations. This is why I highly recommend you buy this issue of The Atlantic or read the full story here.
