The idea of reparations for slavery has been around for many years, but now it seems to have garnered more attention than ever. With reparations, the government would pay the descendants of slaves some sum of money to at least partially compensate for the damage that slavery did to these descendants through the brutal enslavement of their forebears.
One popular objection to reparations is that none of those paying (generally the taxpayers) owned slaves or were even alive during the time of slavery. Why should the children pay for the sins of the parents?
Of course, there are answers to this. Suppose that you and I had parents each with a million dollars. Before they died, however, your parents broke into my parents’ house and stole all of their money. Soon after this, suppose, both sets of parents died. You inherited $2 million and I inherited nothing. Shortly thereafter the crime was solved and it became clear what happened. Should you not have to give me half your inheritance? This is the story of reparations and it has nothing to do with blame. In general, white Americans have benefited from the stolen inheritance from the crime and brutality of slavery. It is not unfair to be called on to share this inheritance with those who were robbed.
The Afreeist takes this one step further. Afreeism is the understanding that the universe is causal and, as a result, there is no free will. Every thought, emotion, idea, and action has been determined before any of us were born. As a result, none of us could ever have done other than what we did. Therefore, no one is ever morally responsible for past actions. (If you would like to learn more about afreeism, please see my other articles or visit afreeism.org.) Because of this, there is never any guilt nor any blame. Not even the parents in the above example are morally responsible for what they did. They could not have done otherwise.
However, even though there is no blame, there is a strong case for reparations. One of the pillars of Afreeism is the Equality Principle. This principle states that resources and opportunities should be distributed equally unless there is a reason to do otherwise. Because of the Equality Principle, Afreeists are generally in favor of redistribution from rich to poor as long as there are no countervailing reasons against it. Looked at this way, reparations are an attractive redistributive plan.
First, consider the following statistics for median family wealth:
White: $171,000
Black: $17,150
This discrepancy is a legacy of slavery. Reparations, if constructed correctly, could go a long way to rectifying this legacy. Because slavery is such a singular phenomenon, it is not likely that a reparations program designed to correct the maldistribution wrought by slavery would have any negative incentive effects as might arise from a random redistribution. Indeed, such reparations are likely to benefit the economy. Evidence indicates that economies function better when we distribute opportunities and resources more evenly. Thus the effects of reparations would be even more effective and more just (better adhering to the Equality Principle) if we finance them through progressive taxation, where the very rich pay significantly higher percentages than those of lower income.
That said, the Afreeist conception of reparations has its limitations. Again, the Afreeist conception of reparations is not based on blame or guilt but rather on the maldistribution of wealth and income wrought by slavery. As such, it does not envision transfers from poor to rich or from the government to the rich. In other words, it does not envision reparations for the billionaires Michael Jordan and Bob Johnson. Rather, reparations might take the form of a government commitment to pour money into social and educational programs that address poverty. Such programs could be directed at the inner city, for example, by dramatically increasing funding for inner city schools, by providing rent and mortgage support and free child care for disadvantaged families, or even direct income support for such families. It could provide college scholarships for economically disadvantaged students. Such programs, if large enough, would have a disparate beneficial impact on Black families and could go a long way towards rectifying the maldistribution of income and wealth wrought by slavery.
Once we realize that reparations are not about blame, but about fixing the legacy of slavery, we can stop pointing fingers, and simply ask ourselves whether the policy will make our society better and fairer. From this standpoint, the answer seems clear.
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