The End of Reparations Talk: Reparations in an Obama World (original) (raw)
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End of Reparations Talk: Reparations in an Obama World, The
Several years ago, I wrote an article on reparations for disparities in Black health in the United States. 1 The world did little note nor long remember what I said in that article. But, the University of Kansas Law Review has rescued my thoughts from obscurity, at least temporarily. My thesis proceeded in three parts: (1) U.S. disparities in Black health are dangerous and persistent; 2 (2) Black health disparities cannot be viewed in isolation from our history of slavery, racism, and legal segregation; 3 and (3) superficial remedial efforts are not likely to be * Associate Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law. My thanks are again offered to my colleague andre douglas pond cummings at the West Virginia University College of Law for his thoughtful comments.
Tragedy & Remedy: Reparations for Disparities in Black Health
Social Science Research Network, 2005
for their comments and questions. Research assistance was provided by WVU law students Ryan Aaron and David Davis. The Hodges Research Fund at the West Virginia University College of Law supported this research. 1 While many racial and ethnic categories exhibit health disparities in the United States, this Article focuses on the Black experience. 3 INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE, UNEQUAL TREATMENT: CONFRONTING RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN HEALTH CARE 30 (Brian D. Smedley et al. eds., 2003) [hereinafter UNEQUAL TREATMENT]. See Consolidated Appropriations Act, Pub. L. No. 106-113, 113 Stat. 1501 (1999). 4 Id. at 38. Variables include patient preferences, racial differences in disease severity or presentation, and geographic availability of specific services or procedures. Controlling for access generally reduces the extent of racial disparities since access is a confounding variable for many racial minorities. See infra Part II (providing a critique on the use of confounding variables in disparity research).
Tragedy and remedy: reparations for disparities in black health
DePaul journal of health care law, 2005
for their comments and questions. Research assistance was provided by WVU law students Ryan Aaron and David Davis. The Hodges Research Fund at the West Virginia University College of Law supported this research. 1 While many racial and ethnic categories exhibit health disparities in the United States, this Article focuses on the Black experience. 3 INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE, UNEQUAL TREATMENT: CONFRONTING RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN HEALTH CARE 30 (Brian D. Smedley et al. eds., 2003) [hereinafter UNEQUAL TREATMENT]. See Consolidated Appropriations Act, Pub. L. No. 106-113, 113 Stat. 1501 (1999). 4 Id. at 38. Variables include patient preferences, racial differences in disease severity or presentation, and geographic availability of specific services or procedures. Controlling for access generally reduces the extent of racial disparities since access is a confounding variable for many racial minorities. See infra Part II (providing a critique on the use of confounding variables in disparity research). 5 Id. at 39. See H. Jack Geiger, Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Diagnosis and Treatment: A Review of the Evidence and a Consideration of Causes in UNEQUAL TREATMENT, supra note 3, at 417, for a comprehensive literature review.
The Debate Over African-American Reparations
Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 2010
This paper offers an overview of the debate over reparations for African-Americans in the United States. We state the point in this way because there is little consensus about the " cause of action " for which reparations are sought, whether for slavery or segregation; for that matter, there is little agreement on the type of remedy reparations might effect. This raises the question of political mobilization for and popular views of reparations for African-Americans. It is well known that whites and African-Americans have very different perspectives on this issue. We seek to address the reasons underlying and the significance of this dissensus, stressing peculiarities of American political culture. Less discussed, however, have been the consequences for the reparations debate of recent historical developments in the United States – in particular, the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. In addition to assessing the significance of these developments for the debate over reparations, we point to a number of new directions that the notion of reparations appears to be taking. We conclude with some thoughts about the ways in which reparations – understood chiefly in terms of their larger aim of enhancing racial equality-might realistically be achieved. College. We cannot claim to have enjoyed, but neither can we deny having benefited from the comments of an anonymous reviewer of our first draft. We thank Ereshnee Naidu for her excellent research assistance.
2005
Biomedical research into racial disparities in health is distracted by an etiological reductionism which overlooks the underlying history of slavery, racism and segregated health care. The epidemiological model of research is ill-equipped to adequately diagnose the health effects of race, controlling for variables such as income and education which themselves bear the legacies of racism in America. Biomedical research can also fall prey to the dangers of racialized research, reinforcing stigma through medical profiling based on race. Biomedical research has a race problem.
2006
The growing body of literature on reparations consists primarily of articles showing that black reparations are consistent with various legal theories, promote racial justice, or further broader societal goals like eliminating poverty and promoting education. This article takes the distinct position of challenging reparations supporters to justify their conªdence in the legal system to deliver meaningful reparations for slavery and segregation in light of the historic use of law as a means of instantiating white racial supremacy and the prospective individualistic approach to race adopted by contemporary judges and legislators. The article also challenges those who oppose reparations based on its supposed unfairness to contemporary citizens to explain how their position differs from that of past generations who opposed reparations and related legal efforts to redress racial injustices as unfair at that time. To support the challenge to reparations commentators, the article examines the historical framework of blacks' relationship to the law through legislation and court rulings from 1619-1963. The article closes by presenting an alternative approach to reparations focused on building and strengthening black political, economic, and educational institutions.
Wash. & Lee Race & Ethnic Anc. LJ, 2004
I. A FEASIBLE SUGGESTION FOR A FEASIBLE GOAL: AN INTRODUCTION Numerous scholarly publications discuss the controversial topic of reparations for descendants of slaves in America. The works expound on possible justifications, moral implications, societal effects, and consequential feasibility of implementing a reparations program. The leading justification focuses on descendents' right to compensation for the unpaid labor of their ancestors. The lack of compensation for labor prevented slaves from bequeathing equity to their offspring. The inability to inherit indirectly impacts the current socioeconomic condition of African-Americans today. The United States government currently sanctions a reparations model for Native Americans, arguably a racial group similarly situated with African-Americans. The government could easily structure an African-American reparations program to duplicate this model with minor modifications. Native Americans have received federal aid as a form of reparations from the government through Congressional legislation for over a hundred years. Similar legislation, as opposed to attempts at legal remedies obtained through federal and state courts, may be the best way for recognizing and addressing the grievous wrongs committed against African-American slaves and their descendants. II. A BRIEF HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA The story of slavery in America is not unknown, but it is often trivialized. Legalized slavery existed in America until the end of the Civil War. 2 Though prohibited by law, inhumane treatment of slaves, such as Mishael A. Danielson is a J.D. candidate, Hofstra University School of Law, 2004; B.A., City College of New York. I wish to thank God, my family, especially my parents Daniel and Devorah, Azalea Z. Lemoine, and all of my friends and supporters. A special thanks goes to my good friend and co-author, Alex Pimentel, a gentleman of great wisdom and intelligence. Alexis Pimentel is a J.D. candidate, Hofstra University School of Law, Class of 2004; B.A., John Jay College of Criminal Justice. I wish to thank God, my family, all of my friends and supporters, and especially my good friend and co-author, Mishael A. Danielson; none of this would have been possible without you. I See generally 25 U.S.C. § § 1-4307 (2003).
A Case for African American Reparations: The Inheritance of Racist Hierarchies and Moral Harm
2021
In this paper, I will argue that living white Americans with no individual ethical responsibility in original wrongdoings such as slavery, segregation and mass incarceration against African Americans in the United States have an obligation to repair the ongoing, present-day reproductions of past injuries. Using the Lockean inheritance argument for Black reparations laid out by Bernard R. Boxill as a starting point, I will show how a narrow conception of inheritance as property-based and merely legal is insufficient to justify reparations for non-property-based harms such as dignity loss or bodily violations. Drawing upon James Baldwin’s notion of history to explain the collective and structural nature of non-material harms caused by racial injustice, I’ll show how racist hierarchies of desert and value are historically transmitted and create obligations for present-day people to repair them. A Case for African American Reparations: The Inheritance of Racist Hierarchies and Moral Har...