March 2

March 2, 2001

Riding the Reparations Bandwagon:

A White Woman's Perspective

By Molly Secours <mollmaud@telalink.net>

I admit it. I, a middle aged white woman, have jumped on the

Reparations "band wagon". When I was asked several years ago

if I thought reparations for the enslavement of African

Americans were in order, I stammered and shuffled my feet

and said, "it depends". A safe response for a liberally

minded white woman who had absolutely no idea what I was

really being asked.. Like so many other whites (and people

of color) I thought reparations was only (and all) about

money. I thought reparations meant someone tossing out an

arbitrary number and someone else (the government) writing a

check and that was that.

This is exactly why most white people who hear and/or read

about the Reparations movement get nervous and defensive and

respond with one of several classic objections:

1) "I didn't have slaves, nor did my family benefit from

slavery."

2) "Slavery hasn't existed for over 140 years, why do we

have to pay for something that happened then."

3) "Blacks have been getting preferential treatment for

years and frankly I'm tired of it."

4) "It is only going to divide us more."

There are of course dozens of other responses but these seem

to be four of the most popular and the most worthy of

addressing in such a brief article.

First of all Reparations is not a recent notion nor is it

something born out of the 60's civil rights movement.

Reparations advocates (both black and white) have been

around for over 100 years. Reparations is a verb and not a

noun. The movement is a process of exploring the damages

inflicted upon the descendants of those who were kidnapped

and held captive in the United States throughout a period of

several hundred years and dialoguing about potential

compensatory remedies. Also included in this exploration are

all the corporations and governmental organizations who

benefited from the slave industry and who are prosperous

today because of their practices.

No one would argue that receiving an inheritance from a

relative might affect what kind of future one might have.

African Americans have inherited the injustices inflicted

upon their ancestors and are living with them today in

various forms. For those who are not educated about our

American history, it is tempting to view the few civil

rights laws and affirmative action programs of the last 30

years as remedies for several hundred years of hatred,

mistreatment and oppression.

As Congressman John Conyers pointed out at the Race

Relations Institute Conference on Reparations in Nashville

in February, those who are promoting reparations on the

governmental level are (at this point) only requesting a

study of the damages. These damages are not limited to

money, and frankly, there is not a dollar figure large

enough that could provide healing and justice for all the

victims of the legacy of slavery. And, it is not even

concluded that money will be the end result of reparations.

So far the government has refused to support a study. This

does not mean studies are not being done, just that the

government refuses to acknowledge them.

It is telling that many Americans don't object to billions

of dollars being spent on strategic air missile defense

systems -- which don't even work or the money spent on the

studies which examine why they don't work. And yet, many

white Americans vehemently object to a study of Reparations

-- something that could specifically identify the injustices

heaped upon our African brothers and sisters which have had

lingering effects. A study of Reparations is a study of our

history and something that could help promote racial healing

and justice for blacks and whites alike.

In regards to one of the primary objections, my family

didn't have to own slaves in order for me to benefit from

slavery. As a white woman I have enjoyed first class

privileges my entire life and I do not come from an upper

middle-class family. In fact I have never forgotten the

shame of seeing my mother pay for groceries with food-stamps

when our family was destroyed. But regardless of my economic

status, I was (and am now) the recipient of numerous

invisible advantages every day. I never knew what those

advantages were or meant until I started working with those

who dealt with discrimination and oppression all of their

lives. As a white person, understanding the insidious nature

of racism was an effort to educate myself because it had no

bearing on my everyday life. I couldn't see it so it didn't

exist for me. I had to open my mind in order to see that

racial discrimination is a stain in the fabric or our

American culture. I'm not just referring to the obvious

kinds of racial injustices but all the subtleties that keep

people of color enslaved -- today.

As far as blacks receiving preferential treatment they most

certainly do. Blacks and other people of color are preferred

targets of the police and other law enforcement officials.

People of color are certainly recipients of preferential

treatment in our criminal justice system as is evidenced by

the fact that they receive longer sentences for the same

crimes committed by whites. It is certainly preferable to

many white owned financial institutions to deny home loans

to people of color in particular neighborhoods where whites

are the majority.

A cursory study of the criminal justice system will support

these allegations in black and white. When we look at the

figures of who is in prison and we realize that there were

few (if any) prisons in America during slavery we must ask

ourselves some honest questions. Why are American prisons

one of the fastest growing businesses in this country? Is it

possible that our prison system has replaced slavery on some

level? Are black men (and women) less threatening when they

are held captive in controlled environments? These are all

very complicated questions that are relevant to the issue of

reparations and in need of consideration.

I'm most fascinated when I hear someone suggest that

reparations will only serve to further divide the races and

therefore should be abandoned. I can think of nothing more

divisive than what has already been done to African

Americans in this country. Are white Americans honestly

convinced that race relations are so good now that we don't

want to jeopardize them?

Learning about and acknowledging anothers oppression does

not take anything away from me. If anything, I have

benefited enormously from re-visiting history and making

connections between the historical truths and contemporary

social ills. I've also learned a great deal from those who

have been brave enough to tell their stories. This is

another reason I believe so strongly in the Reparations

movement. The road to healing race relations is the process

of discovery and listening. When whites and blacks join

together to look truthfully at the past and jointly explore

what the damages were (and are) to those of African descent,

it is clear that money is not the only solution. Healing can

occur in many forms and no one -- so far that I know -- is

suggesting that money is the total solution.

After hearing some preliminary figures of how much the U.S.

government profited from taxing the slave trade (it's not

that far from George W's proposed tax cut ironically) I

personally believe that a check of some kind must be

written. But again, it is only part of the solution.

We whites need healing too. Otherwise we wouldn't get so

angry when we hear the words reparations or compensatory

remedies. It's not the words that cause such a violent

reaction in some, it is something much deeper that we must

address. Our own fear, hatred and anger has done a number on

us whites.. It has made us arrogant. And our arrogance is

just a by-product of our ignorance -- which fortunately can

be remedied if we can stop blaming the victims long enough

to seek the truth.

It is often our arrogance that prompts us to dismiss (out of

hand) the idea of reparations. We have been in the driver's

seat for so long that we can't abide the notion that someone

else might have another route worth exploring.. I say let's

scoot over to the passengers seat and ride the Reparations

band-wagon. No one knows where we will end up but we will at

least end up there together -- which is better than where we

are right now.

Ms. Secours is counselor, writer and racial dialog

facilitator and lives with her musician husband in

Nashville, TN.