Category: Slavery

Slavery in the United States has been a part of the nation’s history for hundreds of years, and yet it did not end abruptly. As the Civil came to an end, southern authorities started to enact a number of restrictive state legislation, generally known as black codes. By limiting the civic engagement of liberated individuals, the regulations institutionalized white supremacy. While these rules might seem not so limiting, they are indeed another form of slavery. According to Cambridge Dictionary, slavery is “the condition of being legally owned by someone else and forced to work for or obey them” (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.). However, in general, black codes not only denied people of color of fundamental freedoms, such as voting but employed subtle approaches to continue slavery.

Prior to the war, slavery had been a cornerstone of the area’s stability and prosperity. Yet, after, black codes preserved the same consistency by reviving the colonial economic order while disguising it as a free-labor system. The evidence of this being another form of slavery is that courts connecting young African American children to white landowners who would subsequently put them to labor under new apprenticeship regulations based on black codes (Khan Academy, n.d.). Agreements with their contractors, who were sometimes their former owners, were made mandatory for freed slaves who were of legal age (Khan Academy, n.d.). Since those agreements forbade African Americans from employment for more than one contractor, they were unable to improve their meager pay or unfavorable working circumstances (Khan Academy, n.d.). Aside from this, most formerly enslaved people could not either rent or lease property, which made them stuck in the vicious circle of being employed by their white contractors.

Hence, although the restrictions after Civil War may not appear too onerous, they are, in fact, another type of slavery. Black codes used deceptive methods to keep slavery viable in addition to denying people of color access to fundamental freedoms like voting. Black codes kept the same stability by restoring the colonial economic order and masking it as a free-labor system. In fact, white employers were able to hire formerly enslaved people since labor agreements were mandatory.

References

Cambridge Dictionary. (n.d.). Slavery. Web.

Khan Academy. (n.d.). Black Codes. Web.

The phenomenon of slavery is one of the most devastating factors that affected the lives of people of African descent throughout the years. However, it is essential to address the origins of racism and slavery in order to create a comprehensive understanding of these concepts. In the chapter “The Origin of Negro Slavery”, Williams explains that although currently slavery is deeply connected to the exploitation of African Americans, initially, populations of various races and ethnicities were occupied as enslaved people (Williams 7). Considering that individuals of all races were involved in slavery in the New World, racism emerged as a consequence of forced labor and was not originally connected to the targeted discrimination of African Americans.

In the history of slavery, the first population compelled to undergo the severe process of enslavement was the Indians. For instance, Spanish explorers utilized Indian labor in their colonies to convert the population to Christianity, enforcing the necessity of slave labor on the individuals who refused to accept the Christian faith (Williams 8). Similarly, Great Britain and France supported slavery in the colonial territories; however, this event was not connected to racial predispositions but to the fact that slavery served as a preventative penalty for the indigenous communities. Nevertheless, over the course of history, enslaved Negroes became a highly more important asset in the slave trade due to the economic benefits, leading to the establishment of Negro slavery as a normal condition (Williams 21). As a result, racism and racial discrimination emerged, but the initial origin for substituting other enslaved people with African Americans remained economic, not racial.

To conclude, the connection between slavery and racism lies in the fact that racial predispositions towards African Americans were caused by the overwhelming use of enslaved African Americans. As such, slavery did not emerge as a result of racism; on the contrary, individuals from various races and ethnic communities were involved in the slave trade. Nevertheless, after the economic benefits of using enslaved African Americans were established, negative racial stereotypes began to emerge, leading to the occurrence of racism.

Work Cited

Williams, Eric. “The Origin of Negro Slavery.” Capitalism and Slavery. The University of North Carolina Press, 1944, pp. 3-29.

Case Description

Tiffani Bradley, a 16-year-old Caucasian female, is identifiable. She is of German origin and was brought up in a Christian home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The two adults in Tiffani’s household are her mother, Shondra, 33, her younger sister, Diana, 13, and her father, Robert, 38. Tiffani presently stays in a group home run by Teens First, a brand-new organization for teen victims of sexual slavery and human smuggling ordered by a court. For the past three months, Tiffani has received housing and food at the residential treatment center.

Tiffani recalls that until eight years ago, her family got along nicely. She remembers being woken by music and laughter in the early morning hours when she was about eight. The dad and Uncle Nate were spotted passing a pipe back and forth when walking downstairs to look into it. When she asked them what they were doing, she remambered her mother responding before repositioning her in bed. Tiffani also remembers the house going through some significant modifications in appearance. The house was never elegant, but it was always immaculate. However, during this period, debris would linger on surfaces, dishes would pile up in the sink, and dust would accumulate throughout the house.

However, Tiffani’s father worked as a welding apprentice and was awaiting a chance to join the union. He would take on odd tasks for the following eight years but never again had regular employment. Her mother is an assistant in home health care and only has a part-time job since she cannot find full-time work. Tiffani remembers that Uncle Nate would frequently invite her to sit on his lap while her mother wasn’t around. Tiffani was woken up by her uncles Nate and Jimmy one night. They were the only people in the house, and it appeared that her parents were not home. They invited her downstairs to demonstrate her new dance moves at school. Once they were downstairs, Nate and Jimmy turned on some music and danced. Tiffani was requested to begin dancing with them.

Theoretical Interpretation of the Case

Systems Theory

The approach to the theory, which eventually evolved into a trans-disciplinary type of theory, stated that natural systems are open, interact with their environment, and have the capacity to emerge with qualitatively new properties as a result of ongoing evolution. This approach focuses more on the connections between the components that allow them to function as a whole (Teece, 2018). As a result, this type of organization specifies the characteristics of a system that is not dependent on the actual constituents of its parts (Katina et al., 2018). This theory is predicated on six fundamental premises: interconnectedness, self-organization, reflexivity, effect, and observation (During et al., 2022). These presumptions aid in setting systems theory and cybernetics apart from other fields.

Homeostasis is a system’s propensity to resist outside forces and work to preserve its essential characteristics. Boundaries are lines or segments that separate one system from other systems in the environment. An ordered, composed, and composed of elements that are interconnected and related systems (Teece, 2018). We learn through our case study of 16-year-old Tiffani Bradley, who attends the teen counseling program Teens First, where the girl struggles with prostitution and running away. She has reportedly been detained twice on suspicion of prostitution-related charges. She is torn between returning to her family or returning to her former habits to get back together with her pimp, Donald. When she was eight years old, her issues started due to her parents’ behavioral changes (Rossetti et al., 2017). The social worker’s job in Tiffani’s life is to look into her past, from her childhood through her family, health, and education, as well as any other circumstances that can assist in identifying the issue and finding a solution.

References

During, R., Van Assche, K., & Van Dam, R. (2022). Relating Social and Ecological Resilience: Dutch Citizen’s Initiatives for Biodiversity. Sustainability, 14(7), 3857.

Elliott, S., & Reid, M. (2019). Low-income Black mothers parenting adolescents in the mass incarceration era: The long reach of criminalization. American Sociological Review, 84(2), 197-219.

Katina, P. F., & Keating, C. B. (2018). Cyber-physical systems governance: a framework for (meta) cybersecurity design. In Security by Design (pp. 137-169). Springer, Cham.

Rossetti, Y., Pisella, L., & McIntosh, R. D. (2017). Rise and fall of the two visual systems theory. Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, 60(3), 130-140.

Teece, D. J. (2018). Dynamic capabilities as (workable) management systems theory. Journal of Management & Organization, 24(3), 359-368.

Introduction

California’s issues with slavery only had recently started when it was accepted into the Union as a free state. While the use of black slave labor as a mainstay of the state’s economy never materialized, the philosophy underpinned it would become essential in California politics. White southern migration skewed the political course of the state toward a pro-slavery conclusion since they were disproportionately represented in the parliament, courts, and California’s congressional delegation. They ensured enslaved people in the South and West were divided by a narrow, invisible barrier while also marginalizing antislavery leaders. California, in the pre-Civil War era, was turned by white southern sympathizers into a massive pro-slavery testing facility. Then some fought for the abolition of California’s free-soil law and the return of slave ownership to the Pacific coast. Finally, others sought political power and used a sizable patronage network to impose a pro-slavery policy platform on the state. Regarding Slavery in California, the Interim Report presents the history wholesome with reliable information, although it lacks details about the drawbacks of free land and the negative aspects of that phenomenon.

Discussion

Even though many white northerners made a living from the labor of enslaved Black people, many also started to worry about the future of slavery in the country. Nevertheless, racism was not only practiced by politicians from the South. California was not an exception to the Western free-soil agenda’s broad seam of anti-black hatred. Abolitionists wrote thousands of books and speeches to persuade their citizens that slavery was morally wrong and against God’s will. They also assisted thousands of people trying to escape slavery using a covert system known as the Underground Railroad (Waite 2021, 92). While most white northerners opposed abolitionism and were concerned that it would drive a wedge between the North and South, the movement’s notoriety and the deeds of freedom fighters sparked fresh hostility to the idea of slavery spreading westward. Self-interest drove the majority of white northerners to oppose the spread of slavery to the West. For free white people to access affordable farmland and the opportunity to amass riches without being forced to compete with rich enslavers and enslaved people, they advocated that additional western areas should be designated as free soil.

California’s pro-slavery political culture resulted from the expansionist goals of white southerners, not a purely local phenomenon. As Jefferson Davis knew better than anybody, it took cooperation from both political leaders of the country to transform the Pacific coast into the consumer of the slave states (Waite 2021, 92). His contact with benefactors and supporters in the American West attests to the size of this alliance in favor of slavery. Partisans from the South and the West pushed a plan to unite the regions and maintain the national dominance of enslavers. However, the report and the book indicate this point and emphasize that the concept of free land was made in favor of white people but not in the interests of African Americans. The law prohibited black people, Native Americans, and other ethnicities from speaking against white people in court. The prohibition from testifying was eventually extended to civil courts in 1851 and applied to Chinese immigrants (Waite 2021, 94). Leaders in California sought legislation to exclude African Americans from the state and mandate the expulsion of any enslaved people who had been transported.

Although the California ban on black immigration finally failed, the message that this would be a state for white people was very apparent. This information was stated both in the report and in the book, mentioning that enslaved people could not represent themselves in court, especially in cases when the question of their freedom was decided. Instead of defending the rights of African Americans, the miners who forced Green’s men and their slaves out of the gold mines in 1849 did so to lessen competition with whites (Waite 2021, 94). Black immigration into the state was almost prohibited by the California Constitutional Amendment that abolished slavery.

Furthermore, while some antislavery lawmakers disagreed with the foreign miners’ fee and the restriction on non-white testimonies, a sufficient number did so to get their message heard. Those facts are essential to the definition of the image of free land since they demonstrate that it was not made for black people to live independently but for white civilians to get more benefits from the mining. In the report, this part lacks some details, which did not contribute to creating a realistic image of that situation. According to estimations today, numerous enslaved African Americans worked in the mining districts in the early 1850s (Waite 2021, 98). Before the abolition of slavery took effect, many had already been relocated to California. Until 1852, it was unclear whether they were free employees who had been illegally bonded or enslaved (California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans 2020, 71). The report also mentions the confusion regarding the freedom of the African Americans who arrived in California before the abolition.

Conclusion

Overall, the report has certain distinctions from the book, but it is still informative and has all the necessary data, specifically regarding slavery in California. African Americans in California did not instantly become free since they were once enslaved people on the free territory. Antislavery campaigners were needed to ensure the emancipation of the enslaved people, but they were hard to come by, particularly throughout the Southern Mines, where enslavers frequently congregated. Both the report and the book referred to the fact that enslaved individuals could not speak for themselves in court, particularly when the issue of their freedom was at stake. Although some details are missing in the report and less specific in some information, it does not seem to affect the recommendation on reparations negatively.

References

California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African American. (2022). ‘Interim Report. State of California Department of Justice.

Waite, Kevin. (2021). West of Slavery: The Southern Dream of a Transcontinental Empire. North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press.

In his famous speech titled “Slavery and the Confederate Constitution”, Alexander Stephens makes several controversial arguments about African Americans’ enslavement. One of the most contentious points in his speech is the proclamation that slavery and white supremacy were the primary causes of secession and the formation of the Confederate nation. The speaker remarks that the persistent lack of consensus over the subordination and slavery of the “Negro” between the South and North was the immediate reason why the Confederates decided to secede and establish their nation. Stephens (1861) believed that creating the Confederate constitution was a permanent solution to the subject’s continued disagreement.

Another controversial point made in this speech is that the black race was inferior to the dominant white one; thus, African Americans’ enslavement was a fundamental and justified practice. According to him, black people were not equal to their white peers; therefore, suppressing them was natural and moral. Stephen (1861) premised his argument on science and nature’s laws to justify what he termed as truth. He argued that empirical evidence has shown that the idea that “all men are created equal” and challenged the assumption that all men were created equal. Stephens (1861) further predicted his argument on the Scripture by stating that his conjecture was in harmony with Biblical teachings.

I found this speech estranging and divisive because it pitted the Northerners against the Southerners. I perceive his strong stance on equality of humans and controversial statements about African Americans’ enslavement since they could evoke negative attitudes and feelings between the Southerners and their Northern counterparts. Such negative sentiments from a man of such stature could lead to deep divisions and atrocities in the country.

Nonetheless, I am not surprised by Stephen’s outrageous admission that African Americans’ servitude was the underlying factor for the Confederate nation and constitution’s secession and formation. This point is predicated on the fact that slaves were a cornerstone of the economy at that time. They provided the much needed cheap labor for the plantations. However, Northerners advocated for abolishing slavery and believed that the practice was wrong, whereas Southerners wanted to retain ownership of Negros to work on their farms. Therefore, these disagreements about the protection and abolition of slavery could breed bigger differences between the two regions.

Reference

Stephens, A. (1861). Slavery and the Confederate Constitution, The American Yawp Reader. Web.

The Rape of Africa

The reading provides an extensive background of the historical rise and fall of the African nations. Before the emergence of slavery, Africa was just as developed as Europe, which is evident from the involvement of many black people in European politics (Dubois, 1946). This reading demonstrates the remarkable development of the African region, which many people today find impossible due to slavery.

The Dawn of Freedom

The reading gives a detailed account of the Civil War and the color line within its context. Dubois (2020) argues that although slavery was a significant part of the war, it was widely unacknowledged. What I find interesting in this text is how the separation of people by their race was such a controversial issue that even in a directly related conflict, people denied its importance.

Introduction: Re-Grounding the Intellectual-Activist Model of Walter Rodney

The introduction to Rodney’s Groundings is a detailed explanation of why the book is written and in what context it should be studied. The most remarkable detail about this introduction is the modern examples of racism: a denial to host black visitors in the Hilton hotel and dominance of white participants in beauty contests (Davies, 2019). The evidence of de-facto segregation provides a stable ground for many arguments that the author presents in the book, proving that the color line still exists.

Hate Makes a Comeback

The article argues that newly created hate groups create racial tension by their violent attacks on the immigrant population. The reading proves that although the historically capitalistic need for discrimination of people of color has ceased, cultural and ideological segregation still prevails (Avila et al, 2009). As evident from the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis, the color line is still deeply rooted in American society.

Georgia Restaurants Report Labor Shortages After Passage of Anti-Illegal Immigration Law

The article voices many concerns of Georgia’s businesses in regards to the new anti-migration law. According to Redmon (2011), the recent policy resulted in many restaurants and farms facing shortages of workers. This example demonstrates the importance of widely oppressed immigrants for American businesses. It also shows that similar to the enslavement of blacks, people of color are still needed by the modern capitalist world system to sustain the economies.

References

Avila, J., Tribolet, E., & Francescni, C. (2009) Hate makes a comeback: Groups like the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis target Mexican immigrants. ABC News.

Davies, C. B. (2019). Introduction: Re-grounding the intellectual-activist model of Walter Rodney. In W. Rodney (Ed.), Groundings with my brothers (pp. 2-6). Verso Books.

Dubois, W. E. B. (1946). The world and Africa. International.

Dubois, W. E. B. (2020). The dawn of freedom. In J. Benjamin (Ed.), Race and ethnicity: difference and decolonization (pp. 55-65). Kendall Hunt Publishing.

Redmon, J. (2011). Georgia restaurants report labor shortages after passage of anti-illegal immigration law. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Web.

Introduction

The institution of slavery arose in order to legalize the practice of using slave labor. It is essential to note that “a slave is a representative of the exploited class, a person who was deprived of any rights and means of production and was fully owned by his slave owner” (Parish 18). Thus, it is important to consider the history of the former slave and provide my impressions.

Discussion

My chosen person is Erra Adams, and now the man can no longer care for himself; therefore, his niece cares about him. From the stories of the man, one can learn more about his slave experience; he explained how his parents came to Master Lawrence Adams. He was the owner of a large plantation where enslaved people worked. Erra Adams indicates that he was the oldest of the children and his task was to plow the land. Moreover, when the slaves were declared free, the man was ten or eleven years old, and he remembers that “the enslaved people still did not stop working for their master” (Black 8). Erra Adams indicates that slaves did not want freedom because their masters cared for them, fed them, and gave them clothes; in general, Master Lawrence Adams treated slaves well. The formerly enslaved person noted that the death of the master was a real grief for him and that the slaves mourned for a long time. Besides, Erra Adams explained that he also worked on the farm when he married. The man enjoyed the land and, after gaining freedom, continued to work on it; he does not regret that he did not get an education.

Conclusion

Therefore, the Erra Adams experience surprised me because I used to think that all slaves were unhappy with their situation. Moreover, I thought that “enslavers insulted and abused enslaved people”, which is why Erra Adams’s experience was new to me (Cohen and Greene 19). Meanwhile, I knew from the course that slavery was created for the benefit of enslavers, but the story convinced me that slaves also benefited.

Works Cited

Black, Maggie. “Federal Writers’ Project: Slave Narrative Project.” Vol, 14, South Carolina, Part 1, Abrams-Durant. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1936.

Cohen, David W., and Jack P. Greene. Neither Slave Nor Free: The Freedman of African Descent in the Slave Societies of The New World. JHU Press, 2020.

Parish, Peter. Slavery: History and Historians. Routledge, 2018.

Introduction

Sexual slavery, forced labor, isolation, deprivation, violence, physical and psychological terror, early and untimely death. These are the words to describe the experiences of victims of human trafficking. According to the US Department of State, between 15,000 to 18,000 individuals are trafficked into the US every year (Burke 37). These include men, women, and children, many of whom do not survive captivity and never see the light of freedom again. Around the world, approximately 12 million people are in captivity at any given moment (Burke 15). As it stands, the US Government’s policy towards human trafficking is based on three pillars: Prevent, Protect, and Prosecute. The position of this essay is that the state does not do enough in the prevention aspect of the crime. US government should prioritize border control as a means of preventing human trafficking, because a strong border creates a bottleneck of access, which makes it easier to spot victims, and those responsible for it can be easily detained.

Current Policy towards Human Trafficking

The US government seeks to prevent human trafficking, protect its victims, and prosecute the criminals. However, the crucial element of this system is prevention. Victims are in less need of protection if the deed is intercepted mid-way or dissuaded from happening entirely (Weitzer 42). As it stands, the prevention part of the policy focuses on public awareness, outreach, education, and advocacy (Weitzer 41). The prosecution part involves providing training and technical assistance to police, law enforcement, and judges. As it is possible to see, none of the motions currently in place explicitly mention border control.

One of the best places to intercept human trafficking into the US is at the border. While borders with its neighbors, such as Canada and Mexico, are extensively long, it is much easier to intercept a caravan filled with captured women and children being ferried into the country when it is passing a checkpoint (Farrell 40). The country area is much wider, and it is easier to find places there where victims can be isolated, exploited, and brutalized. Public awareness campaigns, outreach, education, and advocacy are useless when the victim is trapped inside a basement, or kept somewhere where people could not notice their dire situation. Most of human trafficking into the US comes through the US-Mexican border (Farrell 42). The likelihood of human trafficking interception is much higher when they are crossing the border rather than when they are already set-up inside of the country.

What Must Be Done?

Conversations about tighter border control are considered a politically-charged topic these days. That is largely because of the ongoing immigration issue and diametrically opposite position on it by the two major political parties that dominate the US (Burke 79). However, a bipartisan consensus can be reached when the issue is framed in terms of human trafficking. While the legislative landscape can be changed to make legal entrance to the US easier, the physical process of crossing the border has to be under a more vigilant watch. While the infamous “Wall” project is both physically and economically improbably, it must be made so that every bit of border with Mexico is under direct or indirect supervision by the border control agencies (Burke 83). The proposed improvements to the existing border control include better funding for physical supervision, selective construction of physical barriers, and a much tighter control over officers, to prevent corruption and collaboration with criminals (Milivojevic 26). All of these measures combined ought to reduce the amount of human trafficking coming into US.

Conclusion

Human trafficking is a serious problem in the US, with thousands of victims being imported into the country on a yearly basis. The state is not doing enough to stop the caravans filtering through the borders. The proposed solution is to increase vigilance and accountability of the border control, to help prevent the crime at the bottleneck, and dissuade would-be criminals to attempt the deed. This should help achieve the long-term goal of destroying the local slave trade market due to a lack of supply.

Works Cited

Burke, Mary C.Human Trafficking: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Routledge, 2022.

Farrell, Amy, et al. “Policing Labor Trafficking in the United States.” Trends in Organized Crime, vol. 23, no. 1, 2020, pp. 36-56.

Milivojevic, Sanja, et al. “Freeing the Modern Slaves, One Click at a Time: Theorising Human Trafficking, Modern Slavery, and Technology.” Anti-Trafficking Review, vol. 14, 2020, pp. 16-32.

Weitzer, Ronald. “Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.” Great Decisions, vol. 1, 2020, pp. 41-52.

Introduction

The social psychology of modern slavery holds the opinion that slavery still exists today, contrary to the belief of many people that slavery does not exist in the modern world. Researchers fail to recognize the fact that slavery grows and permeates society every day. Although some people might wonder why actions such as human trafficking are described as slavery, there are enough reasons to classify such acts as slavery. Slavery deprives people of free will and the ability to make choices. In some cases, it is accompanied by violence and inhumane treatment. Slavery takes different forms all of which cause suffering to the victims.

Main body

Although human suffering may be disguised in different ways, slavery is characterized by unique horror that can be confirmed by those who witness it. Even when physical harm is not involved, it causes psychological torture that makes it difficult for the victims to live normal lives once they are freed. The parable of the sower relates to the social psychology of modern slavery because ideally, the people involved live in some kind of bondage that they would wish to free themselves from.

In chapter one, the writer is struggling and says that she is hooked. She struggles to free herself and pretends that nothing is happening. In the real sense, she knows that she is not her father’s daughter and however much she tries to evade the truth, she lives in slavery that disturbs her.

The writer says that she had a dream but she knows well that the dream was a big lie that bothers her so much. This relates to the social psychology of modern slavery because the writer is in psychological anguish. In her dream, she sees herself burning and tries as much as she can to liberate herself. The experience causes her a lot of psychological disturbance and this is exactly what modern slavery does to its victims.

In chapter two, what the writer explains also relates to the social psychology of modern slavery. The writer is baptized in the name of a God he does not believe in because he is a coward. Although he is no longer a member of the church that his father belongs to, he is initiated unwillingly. This clearly shows a person who has no free will and who has no chance to make his own choices. This is modern slavery because although no physical violence is involved, the writer is in bondage. He is denied the opportunity to live an independent life.

Conclusion

The writer talks about the old good days when people walked freely without fear of being attacked. This implies that things have changed and security is no longer guaranteed. For instance, the writer recalls his father’s church that was burnt down. This is modern slavery because as he points out, people are not able to move freely without fear of attacks. Parents fear for the lives of their children whenever they want to walk out hence they restrict them to stay within the neighborhood.

Keith dreams of moving out of the neighborhood and going to Los Angeles although he does not know the exact thing he would like to do there. The lesson learned in this parable is that freedom is very important for people. Human beings need to live freely and be allowed to make their own choices. It is only after this is achieved that modern slavery can be eliminated.

A dark chapter in American history on the treatment meted out to slaves still finds resonance in modern American society. A select group of present-day politicians and social activist groups believe that America must provide monetary relief to the descendants of slaves as reparation for the pain, suffering, and loss suffered during the slavery era. The legal fraternity backing such claims has been unsuccessful in persuading the US government to pay reparation has shifted their focus to companies that once used slave labor. The author, Juan Williams, in his article “Slavery Isn’t the Issue; Reparations Would do Irreparable Harm,” argues that such a move would be counterproductive as it would harm race relations and impinge on the gains made due to affirmative action. Williams’s article is worth reading because it points out some very valid reasons why payment of reparation must be discouraged. This essay aims to provide a critique of the views of the author.

The author claims that far from being really worried about ameliorating the economic, moral, and social debt of African American descendants of the slaves, the present initiative of the lawyers to force companies who had once used slave labor to pay is just a money-making enterprise. Legally, there is no jurisdiction to hear a reparation case against the federal government as the statute of limitations for hearing such cases has expired long ago. The author argues that if the reparation actually becomes a reality, it will lead to another round of racial resentment against the blacks, including further segregation with respect to other minorities such as Hispanics and Asians. On the political level, the payment of monies will lead to an end of moral responsibility and closure of affirmative action by all government and private agencies. The author claims that despite the obvious disadvantages, the reparation movement thrives not only because of greed but also because of Black activism fuelled by an affluent black community bent on a nationalist black agenda. The author claims that the reparation argument is flawed as affirmative action has ensured that a record number of black Americans move up the economic and social ladder.

The authors’ presumption that the lawyers are only interested in a money grab though evocative is not a legally tenable argument. Any course of action as long as it stays within the ambit of the laws of the country is admissible. The logic that “the statute of limitations has long expired” (Williams, 2002, Para 2) is correct and agreed to. The thesis that reparations may lead to communal and social disharmony amongst the Whites, Blacks, and the Colored is correctly argued by the author. The author’s claim that reparations may lead to turning a national policy into a Black Nationalist agenda (Williams, para12) is wholly unsubstantiated with any statistics to support such a claim. The article, on the whole, is well-argued and clearly puts forth the case that payment of reparation would do more harm than good. The claim that lawyers are pushing the case against companies for self-aggrandizement through evocative is not legally tenable. The main thrust of the argument that payment of reparation may lead to social disharmony amongst the various denominations in American society is valid and agreeable. One discordant note of the possibility of rising Black elitism and Black Nationalism hijacking the reparation movement is an alarmist view that can be discounted in light of the more substantive arguments put forth by the author. In conclusion, the author makes a strong, convincing case that paying reparation monies will indeed do irreparable harm.

References

Williams, Juan. (2002). Slavery Isn’t the Issue, Reparations would do Irreparable harm. The Wall Street Journal. Digital network. Dow Jones and Company Inc. 2008. Web.