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British slave ship illustration from 1808 None: Original image housed by Chapin Library of Rare Books, Williams College
Ta-Nehisi Coates presented an excellent case for reparations saying, "America will never be whole again until we reckon with our compounding moral debt for 250 years of Slavery, 90 years of Jim Crow, sixty years of separate but equal, and thirty five years of racist housing policies."
On the anniversary of the Tulsa Race Riot I would like to make a modest proposal for those who are loath to call it reparations, let's call it: #The Descendants of Slaves Educational Emancipation Act.
Under this act all descendants of American slaves would be entitled to scholarships for under graduate and post graduate studies at any institution of higher learning that receives federal funds. All African American student loan debt would be forgiven. Scholarships would provide for tuition, fees, and books. This act and it's provisions would operate similar to GI Bill ,which offers scholarships to dependents of American Disabled Veterans.
While this act doesn't meet the misery, untold affliction, and billions of dollars in lost economic value visited on the descendants of slaves, it is something this county can do now to demonstrate remorse and serious concern for the condition of African Americans, many of which were/are caused by discriminatory laws and public policies in education, housing, and employment. In other words, America can begin to solve the problem it helped create. See graphic above.
