Ta-Nehisi Coates A Case For Reparations Summary

In an act to affirm the idea that America should claim ownership to the wrongdoing that they have committed on to African Americans for centuries, Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote “A Case For Reparations”. “Reparations”, is essentially the executive decision proposed by a government to alleviate all wrongdoings by granting monetary benefits to the victims that were affected by such wrongdoings. Ta-Nehisi Coates presents the argument that until America recognizes the hundreds of years of enslavement and segregation and systematic oppression, the state of this Country will never be whole. Being a persuasive piece, Coates uses mechanism such as Bible scriptures, factual evidence/statistics, and actual testimonies to appeal to the emotional and logically

Coates presents a series of statistical information that ultimately shares the idea that the lives of African American have not made as much progress as we would like to believe. Yes, the presences of white only signs are gone, black poverty rates have decreased, and black pregnancy rates are at a record low, but in certain aspects such as the income gap between blacks and white, its roughly the same as it was in 1970. Coates goes forth to explain the this is essentially due to that obviously fact that African Americans in the country have never had a gateway/path to wealth. Black families, regardless of the household income, are incredibly less wealthy than their white counterparts. Research done by The Pew Research Center discovered that white households are worth an estimated 20 times more than that of black households. Furthermore, only 15 percent of white families are crippled with zero or negative wealth, while more than 33 percent of black families are burdened by zero or negative wealth. And this is how systematic oppression works Coates explains; these statistics happen to roll over into other aspects of life. This lack of black wealth causes African Americans

Coates tells the story of Clyde Ross, a child born in Mississippi to a family who onced owned 40 acres of farming land. This testimonies entails a recurring cycle of racial infused events that would simply be added into Cydle Ross’ many losses. In 1920, Jim Crow was in full effect and many black families in the south were simply looking for protection from the law. At a young age, Ross witnessed the lack of power his family and families like his actually had. As a child, Ross witnessed state authorities take advantage of the misfortunes inherited by his father and his family. Not able to read, state authorities were able to accuse and take $3,000 in back taxes from his father. Not having a way to combat the allegations, authorities seized the family's land, animals and other property and the family was reduced to sharecropping. This testimony may seem like a rarity but unfortunately it connects deeply with the personal experiences of other African Americans as well. Testimonies like this are prime examples that describe the hand African Americans are dealt. A family that was once doing relatively well eventually being exposed to an inevitable defeat that they couldn't reverse. But Coates uses this testimony to share the concept that a