The Pros And Cons Of Reparations For Black Americans

After examining the historical injustices and current wrongdoings committed against the Black community, it is clear that reparations are in order. The remaining question is what will they look like? Reparations are meant to cover costs and disparities such as a loss of culture, a loss of potential profit, and an uneven distribution of benefits and burdens. One of the biggest issues the United States is still facing is the Black-white wealth gap. To address this, I propose investing in HBCUs as a form of reparations for Black Americans. HBCUs, or Historically Black Colleges or Universities are institutions founded to allow Black Americans to pursue higher education at a time when they were barred from attending Predominantly white institutions

According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, from 2018-2019, 62.3% of white Americans had a bachelor’s degree, in comparison to Black Americans with 10.3% (National Center for Education Statistics). This ratio has a direct impact on the wealth gap, especially when generational wealth is considered. One of the consequences of American slavery was a 200-year loss of potential profit. With this came a lack of access to adequate education, even after slavery was abolished. That is already two ways the United States government was upholding the wealth gap.

We should accept premise one because there is a direct link between having a college degree and the salary you receive. A report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) revealed that adults who graduated with a bachelor’s degree earn $1.2 million more than the median income for someone with just a high school diploma. It also revealed that with “every additional level of education, [employees] tend to earn more than those with less education” (Nietzel para. 1). When money is invested into HBCUs, the result will be an increase in Black Americans with college

12% is still a very large gap, especially when you are looking at the increasing size of the population. The goal of reparations is to put Black and white Americans on a level playing field. The book with Williams’ commentary was published in 2003, meaning that the data he supplied is 20 years old. Today, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis reports that white Americans make up 60% of the population and hold 84% of the wealth, while Black Americans are 13% of the population and only hold 4% of the wealth (Camner McKay para. 36). It is important to note that income and wealth are two different things. Wealth is the total value of all an individual’s assets, and income is an addition to wealth. Williams chose to address income inequality because that gap has shortened, while the wealth gap has only increased. Choosing to ignore this detail further upholds white supremacy by erasing the past and ongoing struggle Black Americans endure. Of course, it is important to acknowledge how far we have come, but that does not mean that we can stop moving toward