Debate over US Racial Reparations

In 2020, the tragic loss of George Floyd and numerous other incidents of police brutality, alongside the disproportionate COVID-19 impact against Black people in the United States, led to a heightened global response to racial injustices. This period marked a transformation within the field of racial redress. In 2021, the UN created the Permanent Forum of People of African Descent, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) unanimously passed Human Rights Council resolution 43/1, Promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Africans and of people of African descent. Nationally, municipalities began to be accountable for historical racial injustices, such as the passage of housing reparations in Evanston, Illinois, for historical discriminatory zoning policies between 1920-1950.

Despite the transformation, reparations remain a contentious political issue. HR40, a federal bill to support the formation of a reparations commission, appears to be stalled in committee. A California task force voted to limit reparations to individuals who could prove enslaved ascendancy, creating rifts within the Black community for those who believe reparations are also due for other historical injustices, such as those that occurred during the Jim Crow Era. Public opinion polls suggest that over sixty percent of the population remains opposed to the idea of reparations. Even the process of forwarding local reparations is a complex process fraught with community disagreement on the value and need for racial repair.

This course will examine the concept of reparations, explore the historical and contemporary US reparation efforts, and study how various sectors approach this issue, including legal scholars, historians, community activists, and legislators.