Ta-Nehisi Coates The Case For Reparations

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ essay, The Case for Reparations, is a rhetorical essay focused on attempting to convince American’s that the descendants of African-Americans are owed something since their ancestors were a key part of the foundation of this nation. His main audience is clearly African Americans, but my question is how well he does convincing other demographics. Can he convince Asians, Caucasians, or Hispanics? What about single mothers in Kentucky? If Ta-nehisi Coates is unable to convince more than just his target audience then it can be argued that he did not do a great job of communicating his ideas to everyone.

In “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author begins his article with this quote to ensure that his audience has a different perspective about the case for African American reparations. There is no denying that since the inception of the United States of America, African Americans have faced serious discrimination and injustice, which may in fact entitle them to reparations. Some African American communities of the present are still experiencing the negative effects of slavery, Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction racism. These negative effects are evident in Chicago’s North Lawndale, where the almost all-black community still suffers from the injustices committed by contract sellers when African Americans would try to purchase a home (Coates). In his article, Coates claims that African Americans deserve reparations because they inherit an “ecologically different” type of poverty compared to whites as members and are haunted by their history of impoverished ancestors (“The Case for Reparations”). The author’s premise is flawed because poverty is disadvantageous to all groups it affects, not just African Americans. Thus, one cannot justify reparations because African Americans have a different type of inherited poverty. There are

America has gone through a terrible past. It has once decided to own people as property and deprive African Americans of their liberties and enslaved them. Since then, the United States has attempted to repair this mistake through reparations. The legal reparations of the United States have unsuccessfully redressed individual and social injustices by failing to alleviate the pain caused to the African American community. The Harm caused by Slavery still continues to be suffered by the community through this day.

The article “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates gives a clear overview of how racism and discrimination were like for African Americans. Coates uses facts, evidence and politics to demonstrate how the whites in America oppressed the African Americans in being equal to them. In the first paragraph of the article, Coates states, “Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.” Coates claims that unless America truly amends for their wrongdoings and give some support to the African American community, America will truly never be equal. This is a good argument, however, in the article Coates does not state what he exactly wants from the reparation, but instead only states the hardships that the African Americans have faced.

I agree with Ta-Nehisi Coates on the Argument for Reparations, the black people of today necessitate a form of Reparations that includes the full realization and respect of the extent of damages waged against African Americans all across America. So many problems stem from the fact that the struggles of African Americans in this country are trivialized, debased, and mocked. People need and must understand the extent of slavery in this country and how it is at the base of everything American. Simultaneously, the concept white guilt must be excised out of the society, there is nothing to be guilty of you are playing an active role on disassembling the power system at play destroying so many black lives instead of profiting from it.

The article, “The Case for Reparations”, presents itself with a commendable representation on how the need for reparations is essential when combined with the brutal history of slavery and progression of blacks in American Society after slavery. Ta- Nehisi Coates argues that the relationship between racial identity and reparations is based upon America’s debt to blacks for the countless years of injustice. With this he demonstrates how white supremacy has ultimately used impractical measures to maintain what they consider social stability for those who were not African American.

In Coates’ piece of writing, A Case of Reparations, he states that reparation is a means of full acceptance of our collective biography and its consequences, and is the price we must pay to see ourselves squarely; ' 'Perhaps no statistic better illustrates the enduring legacy of our country 's shameful history of treating black people as sub-citizens, sub-Americans, and sub-humans than the wealth gap. Reparations would seek to close this chasm. ' ' There are three major aspects in Coates’ article that have caught my attention: the stories of unknown people who are alive today, emphasis on black works establishing wealth, and the lack of emphasis on emotional harms of discrimination (Ben Mathis-Lilley, slate.com). Having read this article concerning his arguments for reparations and citing the history of oppression, I am writing to express my opinion towards his assertion that justice should finally be served to people of color with a form of compensatory payment. Although he composes several arguments in which supports his declaration, I have to partially agree with it. Yes, there must be amends towards black people for shaping, and maybe even building, this country, but there are other matters that require our attention to a great extent like world hunger, sex trafficking or sexual misconduct, extreme poverty, and/or hopelessness. Despite being the biggest

Slavery and racism was the plague of the United States. It followed on the heals of government policy and trickled down the social ladder for many years. Racial discrimination is still existent today, though people are afraid to talk about it, for fear of admitting ancestral sin and current stereotypes. Ta-Nehisi Coates expresses these ideas in his article “The Case for Reparations”, and focuses on the issue of home ownership in Chicago. The bottom line of his article is that one must not forget and discard of the past, rather they must acknowledge and own what has happened. With Coates focus on American oppression, one doesn’t glean an exceptional take on the United States, from his perspective. He describes the U.S. as too timid to own its mistakes. In the middle of the 20th century, Chicago, discrimination was rampant. Blacks were targeted by “real-estate speculators” when trying to own a house, they were put “on contract.” In response to the issues brought about by the contracts, the Contract Buyers League was founded. This was an attempt to reverse the damage that was being done. Discrimination still occurs today. Racial discrimination has long plagued the U.S., but it is possible to change.

The author uses the term “Reparations” repetitively in the text. According to the text the word “reparation” means to make amends. Coates (2014) also refers to reparations as compensation. America should take responsibility and pay the price for the mistreatment to African Americans (2014). Coates (2014) does not only mean monetary compensation but acceptance and acknowledgement. The author

For years African Americans descent were slave by the United States. During these rough times, Africans faced painful hardships and lost their true identity. Later on in 1863, president Abraham Lincoln announced The Emancipation Proclamation where the slaves were finally "free". Although this freedom, many Africans were still considered slaves to many white Americans. Whites made African Americans believe that if they stayed, they would be paid and live a much better life rather than leaving with empty hands and starting off from nothing. Though this, Africans were still betrayed by the whites even though they were already considered free. Taken this into consideration, there’s one question that has remains for years, and that is whether or not black Americans should be paid for the reparations of their hardships. This had been a commonly topic for years with two sides to the story. Many agree with the idea that the United States should pay for reparations because Africans were promised goods for their hard work. And on the other hand, many believe that the United States shouldn’t pay for reparation because slavery ended years ago and it is unfair to take money from American taxpayers where many came to the United States after slavery ended. The author of The Case for Reparation, Ta-Nehisi Coates goes into deep details on how the U.S should be marked responsible for paying for reparations. And writer Kevin D. Williamson goes against Coates own essay in how the U.S shouldn’t

Slavery had been a huge part of America's history and has contributed greatly towards the structure of today's American demographic. One of the issues that come with the topic of slavery is reparations. The question asked is should we provide reparations or deny reparations. As much as I believe that every harm done to someone should have some compensation in return, in this case, it is just too late. Rather than fixing what had happened, it would create more struggles for the people.

Reparation is a term defined as “the making of amends for a wrong one has done, by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged.” How does this exactly apply when we’re talking about discrimination and segregation? Ta-Nehisi Coates presents “The Case for Reparations” to illustrate the need of a reparation to African- American citizens. Coates explains three major concepts in his paper. He emphasizes how African- American citizens have helped create wealth, displays how the government has actually restricted African- American citizens from owning homes in history, and presents a series of compelling stories from people still suffering discrimination and segregation today. In this paper, I will defend “The Case for Reparations” in agreement with Ta-Nahisi Coates.

The United States government should pay reparations to African Americans as a means of admitting their wrong-doing and making amends. The damages African Americans have sustained from White America’s policy of slavery have been agonizing and inhumane. Therefore, I am in favor of reparations for African Americans. The effect of slavery has been an enduring issue within the African American community. Many of us are cognizant of the harm racism brought to the African American race, conveyed through slavery, racial segregation and discrimination. African Americans suffered many atrocities, but the greatest damage done to them was the destruction of they’re original identity. African

Historically, there has been many groups of people who have received reparations for past wrongdoings. There have been a few isolated incidents, such as the Rosewood event, where African Americans were harmed and received reparations; however, reparations have also been given on a much larger scale. Ta-Nehisi Coates is a national correspondent at The Atlantic, and he has written books along with countless articles on African Americans and equally. Coates is one of the most important names in the debate for reparations; his article “The Case for Reparations” is one of the most influential pieces on the topic. In his article, he writes about many different sub-topics on reparations, one of which is historical precedent. A previous historical account of reparations occurred in 1952 when West Germany began its journey of redemption for the horrors of the Holocaust. Cotes gives useful background information needed to understand the events that led up to the Israelites receiving reparations for the Holocaust. The road to reparations was a violent one indeed, but the end result was the Jewish people receiving reparations from West Germany. According to Joe Feagin, in his paper “Documenting the Costs of Slavery, Segregation, and Contemporary Racism: Why Reparations Are in Order for African Americans,” the German government paid more than $60 billion to the victims of the Holocaust in reparations. Feagin has received many scholarly awards on the topics of

Reparations should not be paid, because they will be seen as a final payment. The general population would feel that reparations would be the ultimate closure, and that African-Americans are not owed further. Lawrie Balfour at the University of Virginia in 2005 stated that “the closure afforded by reparations means that no more will be owed to Blacks than is owed to any citizen under the law. Given the depth of societal denial about the significance and effects of slavery and the pervasiveness of antiblack racism, it is unlikely reparations alone could accomplish so much”. This means that while reparations will not ever be able to compensate for the full suffering of African-Americans, paying them to African-Americans will not completely put behind racism, and it is unlikely the problems that will still exist will be further addressed. This is supported by Glen Loury, director of the Institute of Race and Social Division at Boston University, who says there would only be a short term victory for African Americans. “It will undermine the claim for further help down the road, because the rest of America will say, ‘Shut up: You’ve been paid.’” This is harmful, because it allows other Americans to disregard and put behind the past. Additionally, any further problems that are still going to exist will be ignored, due to the perception that all the harm has been addressed and African-Americans have received compensation for these wrongs. Forgetting these problems can cause them