Reparations 101

An Introduction to the Movement for Reparations for Black People in the United States

This article was authored by the Decolonizing Wealth Project as part of the Justice for Greenwood campaign. Published on May 31, 2024.

In 1783, Belinda Sutton, an African-born enslaved woman, successfully petitioned the Massachusetts legislature for compensation for her forced labor. 

Recently, local, state and national activities have brought the reparations conversation to the forefront again. Reparations, as outlined by the U.N. guidelines, encompass not only financial contributions, but also measures to acknowledge injustices, restore dignity, ensure public education, and prevent future violations. 

We asked movement leaders Kenya Whitaker (DC Justice Lab), James Woodson (California Black Power Network), Nkechi Taifa (Reparation Education Project), Lisa Holder (Equal Justice Society), and Dreisen Heath (Why We Can’t Wait Coalition) to tell us more about how this centuries-old endeavor rooted in justice and human dignity can play a key role in racial healing. 

What should people understand about the reparations movement?

Kenya: The reparations movement in the U.S. is about restoring humanity to the Black community. Reparations is about addressing past ills that Black people have faced in society, such as slavery, Jim Crow, structural and institutional racism, redlining, mass incarceration, and more. Reparations is acknowledgment for these harms and understanding what role they play in the current position of Black people as a whole. 

James: Every single American has benefitted from the effects of slavery. You may not have owned slaves or committed harm directly, but you've benefited from the land that was stolen, the opportunities that were taken, and the systems that oppress some and privilege others. Healing and repairing the Black community is a step towards healing and repairing us all.  

Has the U.S. government ever paid reparations?*

Nkechi: Quiet as it’s kept, reparations were, in fact, paid as enslavement eras ended in the U.S. and globally; they just weren’t paid to Black folk. Reparations were paid to former white enslavers to compensate them for the loss of their so-called property. It happened in the U.S. in 1862 pursuant to the DC Compensated Emancipation Act. In 1892, reparations were paid by the U.S. government to the families of eleven Italian lynching victims in New Orleans and in 1987, by the U.S. government to Japanese Americans for their unjust incarceration during World War II.

Lisa: The U.S. paid the modern-day equivalent of $3 billion to Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II for state-sanctioned human rights abuses, property loss, forced removal, and imprisonment. We are guided by the moral imperative that justice is priceless.  

What role do reparations play in racial healing and dismantling systems of oppression?

Nkechi: Reparations can be a vehicle for transformative change. Indeed, reparations is the only policy that comprehensively addresses the very crux of institutional and structural racism and inequity. Harms from government and related policies of the enslavement era still manifest today in nearly every area of life; from health, wealth and educational inequities to cultural deprivations and mass incarceration. Reparations is more than the mere ascertainment of a dollar figure and the cutting of a check. The harms from the enslavement era were multi-faceted; thus, the remedies must be multifaceted as well. 

Dreisen: Providing reparations in all necessary forms owed to Black people is the only way we can achieve racial justice in the U.S. and globally. If we share hopes for racial equity and equality, like equitable rights regardless of race or the dismantling of the racial order altogether, then we have to collectively commit to the transformative process of reparations. 

James: According to a 2020 study by Citigroup, anti-Black racism and discrimination have cost the nation $16 trillion since the year 2000. The number was expected to increase to $21 trillion by 2025. It's clear that anti-Black racism stemming from slavery is harming Black people and the entire country. We have the resources to repair our communities. It's a matter of whether we have the political will to act.

Lisa: In these divided times, we can center reparations as a unifying force for building a sustainable multicultural democracy. We can only heal and come together as one human family after we take concrete steps to repair the harm and pay the debt owed. 

There is no path to racial healing in the U.S. without reparations. To learn more about this dynamic movement, check out Decolonizing Wealth Project’s #Case4Reparations grantee partners (which include the organizations in this article), the African American Redress Map, YES! Magazine's Realizing Reparations series, and Movement4BlackLives’ Reparations Now Toolkit.

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Since 2021, Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP), through our fund, Liberated Capital, has granted over $6.7M to reparations advocacy groups via our #Case4Reparations Fund. In 2023, we launched a $20M fundraising campaign to support local, state, and national reparations efforts. Join us in our mission to heal from the generational harms of colonization.

Some responses in this article have been edited for clarity, brevity, and grammatical accuracy. These modifications have been made with the utmost respect for the original sentiments of the interviewees, ensuring that their perspectives are accurately and respectfully presented.

If you would like to learn more about ongoing campaigns like Justice for Greenwood (and how you can help) click here.

*Note: financial compensation is one of several comprehensive means of reparation as defined by the U.N.