Thoughts on Reparations for Slavery

Today in class I found myself very confused as we discussed reparations for slavery. But, by the end of it, I came to a more concrete stance.

I do not agree with reparations - monetary reparations, that is. In an article I just came across that says that the National Association of Educators gave the Durham Public School System a grant of 1.25 dollars a few days ago in order to "engage in the never ending quest to save black males from falling into the dark abyss of educational obscurity."

What I was unaware of prior to reading this article was that African Americans have been fighting for reparations for slavery for years and years. It's completely understandable, but what the author, Paul Scott of The Herald-Sun argues that the money never makes it to the black students and becomes lost in the midst of a complex educational hierarchy.

The author poses one question - "How did we get here in the first place?" I found this very interesting because in class today, I came to the conclusion that for descendants of African American to be receive money would be emulating the institution of slavery again, in a way: African Americans would be worth a certain amount of money, and Whites could buy away their guilt in giving it to them. The wealthier would contain the power in this matter, as they did over a hundred years ago.

Some reparations that do not involve money mentioned in the article include the integration of African American literature into curriculums, something I think should be required without using slavery as a reason for it. Open conversations about race are also encouraged, something I found beneficial during our discussions of Huck Finn.

Scott also encourages all African American children to be required to take a course in Afrocentricity - a course that would teach students about Africa. I'm not sure if this is going too far - is a class that only certain children can take going backwards in time?

What do you think? Would monetary reparations get the job done or would reparations that the author suggests help African American people more? Should we give African Americans money if that's what they want?