Dr. Kyler Sherwin-Wilkins
When I approach topics related to race and race relations, I like to begin by giving credit to sociologist W.E.B. DuBois
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DuBois is quite the inspiration to me. He was the first African American to receive a PhD, from Harvard, no less. And is considered one of the founding fathers of sociology. I would be remiss if I did not point out that DuBois’ position as a founding father of sociology was something that had to be fought for because of, well racism. I digress. DuBois is credited with saying that “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” I am sure that if DuBois were alive today, he would certainly acknowledge that the problem of the color line extends well into the present day twenty-first century.
DuBois is an appropriate departure point for our conversation today on reparations. Namely, because DuBois fundamentally understood the psychological, social, and structural determinants of the racial disparities that exist in America today. In his work, The Souls of Black Folk DuBois brilliantly lays out the history of Reconstruction, and the creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau. One line that resonates with me from this work is the following: “the granting of the ballot to the black man was a necessity, the very least a guilty nation could grant a wronged race… Thus Negro suffrage ended a civil war by beginning a race feud.” And in the spirit of this feud, white Southerners were committed to keeping their power. From this race feud, we got Jim Crow up until 1965, which was then replaced by Mass Incarceration in the 70s and 80s. Even reforms such as the GI Bill and Social Security benefits were not fully reaped by blacks.
It is important to define what is meant by reparations. I find the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition to suffice. Reparations, here are defined as “the act of making amends, offering expiation, or giving satisfaction for a wrong or injury.” In this context, the U.S. government owes the descendants of slaves amends for the injury of slavery. To say that this is a controversial issue in the United States requires no stretch of the imagination. We are, after all, a country that is plagued with ahistoric thinking and the idea that the past has no bearing on the future. Which is why you often get individuals who invoke the familiar line: “the past is in the past.”
Oftentimes, you will hear of the legacy of slavery. Now I will admit, I am frustrated by this term because it takes some explaining, and sad to say, President Ronald Reagan was right: “If you’re explaining, you’re losing.” People are quick to say that slavery ended 150 years ago, and that we should just move on. People who complain about persistent racial injustice are stuck in the past. Well, my friends, I want to reveal something revolutionary: a grave injury or experience of trauma impacts you not just in the moment of injury, but it lingers. Complications continue to extend from it. There are individuals who suffer a grave injury in childhood and must live with it for the rest of their lives. The trauma and injuries sustained by an entire group of people by the institution of slavery, which socialized Americans into thinking that blacks were inferior are not healed by the drying of ink on a piece of parchment, or the apology for slavery issued by the House in 2008 and the Senate in 2009. It lingers.
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We often hear about the wealth gap. Here is a chart which displays the gap. The median wealth is broken down by age range, to control for confounding factors associated with age. We know, after all, that age is correlated with wealth, and that the median age for whites is about 6 years higher than for blacks. Indeed across every age range, the wealth gap exists, getting bigger over time. Life course sociologists refer to this as cumulative disadvantage. Or the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. As if it is not bad enough, this wealth gap, it is important to note that even the wealthy blacks are not experiencing wealth the same as the wealthy whites. The experience of being a black man or woman in America is not erased by their social class. President Johnson so famously noted that “Negro poverty is not white poverty.” I will add that black wealth is not white wealth.
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Now I want to turn to an outcome that is nearer and dearer to my heart. I am a life course sociologist and health demographer, and I am very much interested in the patterns of health across the life span. These data show clear disparities between whites and people of color regarding the prevalence of cognitive impairment, a robust predictor of Alzheimer’s dementia. Across all age ranges, blacks and Hispanics are in poorer cognitive health than their white counterparts.
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Since COVID-19 is on everyone’s minds these days, it is worth mentioning that the virus is not hitting our population the same across racial groups. Despite making up about 30% of the population of Chicago, blacks constitute 39% of confirmed positive cases and 68% of deaths. We see similar disparities in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and some evidence in St. Louis. These disparities exist, not because of biological differences between the races. Race, after all, is a social construct. Nor do these disparities exist because blacks have failed to take responsibility for their actions. Rather, disparities exist because of policies that have long concentrated blacks into impoverished neighborhoods (redlining and housing discrimination) as well as the extensive bias that exists in our medical institutions. For an excellent discussion of this bias, I recommend the books the Color of Law, by Richard Rothstein and Just Medicine, by Dayna Matthew.
Perhaps I am preaching to the choir, as it were. Many of you listening likely know of the racial disparities that exist. I reckon many of you also are committed to a more racially just world. The question is how do we get there?
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Since 1989, the late Rep. John Conyers of MI introduced H.R. 40, a bill that would form a commission to study the issue of reparations. The ultimate goal was to put together a set of recommendations on how to proceed with reparations. Namely, are reparations needed? Who is entitled to them, and what form do said reparations take?
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Conyers passed in 2017, after pushing for H.R. 40 and introducing it into every Congressional session since 1989. In 2019, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee introduced the bill. To this date, it has not been taken up in the house. So much for a do-nothing Congress.
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It would not be correct to say that Congress has done nothing. On June 19th, 2019, aka Juneteenth, Congress hosted a panel to discuss reparations. Though not the same as commissioning a study, at least a conversation was being had. In many ways, this panel served as a follow-up to a 2007 conversation on the same topic.
As is custom, the Democrats and Republicans were allowed to invite panelists to testify and answer questions. Among the Democrats’ invites were economist Julianne Malveaux (who received her PhD from MIT), esteemed public intellectual and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Ta-Nehisi Coates, and actor and civil rights activist Danny Glover. And for the Republicans?
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An undergraduate philosophy major, Coleman Hughes and a former football player, Burgess Owens. It is not very difficult to imagine that support for reparations, specifically cash payments to blacks, largely falls across party lines, with Democrats more favorable than Republicans. Though, Democrats are roughly 50%/50%, evenly split. What is striking, is that nearly 3/4 or 75% of blacks believe in cash payments. Perhaps blacks see something that whites do not.
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There are several legitimate questions pertaining to reparations. What form do they take? Do blacks receive a check? If so, will every descendant of slaves receive it? I will admit that perhaps I do not need a check. I am doing well. I was not born into privilege, but I am doing okay for myself. I have a PhD, a secure job as a tenure-track professor. That said, I face discrimination. Reparations could take the form of free tuition for blacks, grants to help with the procurement of a home, grants to spark black business, investments to revitalize black communities. I will admit that I don’t have the answers, and there are debates even among those who believe reparations should be made. But to let a lack of consensus should not mean a lack of action.
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What is the future of H.R. 40? It remains in limbo, but perhaps there is promise. The primary this year was historic for a number of reasons. The Democratic primary saw a record number of women running, a record number of people of color, and the first openly gay man win the Iowa caucuses. Allegedly. It is also historic because it featured a number of leading candidates openly supporting reparations, or at least the study of reparations. Joe Biden, the presumptive nominee has not openly supported H.R. 40, but there is reason to believe that he will be pushed to take on the issue, especially if he should select Sen. Kamala Harris or Stacey Abrams as a running-mate.
2020 represents a vote for the soul of our nation. It’s not just about the courts. It’s not just about ending the presidency of a narcissus, it’s about moving toward a conversation on what is owed me and the rest of African American brothers and sisters. The members of Congress and the occupant of the White House, who are sitting in the halls erected on the blood and sweat of my ancestors owe it to all of Americans to study this topic seriously. H.R. 40 must be taken up and passed into law.
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I want to end by providing a shoutout to my grandmother, who we call Duchess, and my mother, Kappy. They are truly my inspiration and I owe them both so much for where I am today. I also think it is important to know that when I called my grandmother yesterday and asked her what she thinks of reparations, a woman whose great-grandmother was born into slavery. A woman who has seen the horror of the racist south, who traveled north with here family while but a youth to seek out a better life during the Great Migration. A woman who has lived through Jim Crow and recognizes the New Jim Crow of Mass incarceration. She said: “I’m all for it.” I think we owe it to her, and millions others to have the conversation.
