Dear Justice Talking,

I am an American citizen who knows a little about reparations. After listening to the debate about reparations toward African Americans, I felt the need to respond.

Adjoa Ayetoro has many valid points. I do agree with her that reparations are needed because of the fact that slaves were freed and given land, but the land was then taken back shortly after. In addition, I do think it is unfair that the Japanese and the Holocaust victims were given a form of reparations. However I disagree with the fact that racism’s beginning is directly correlated with slavery. Human nature is to judge people. Slavery was just an act of racism.

I feel I most agree with Robert Sedler. While Adjoa was mainly talking about morality and sentimental reasons, Robert is talking about logistics. I am in agreement with him when he says that it would be just too hard. How would one come about finding all the descendents of slaves? One could have a wonderful life in Africa, come to America and say that their ancestors were enslaved. In addition, I think that it’s a good point when Sedler says that there shouldn’t be any reparations since the Constitution legitimized it. It was legal back then so who would we hold accountable? Furthermore, I also agree that we should pay attention on something better. Our society today has many problems, and there are many other problems to deal with that are more important than worrying about reparations and who would get what.

Well what about Native Americans? If we give reparations to African Americans, I do feel the need for reparations to the Native Americans who were kicked out of their land and treated unfairly. There were also 12,000 free blacks who owned slaves, so would you give them reparations as well? I think that there already have been reparations made from the Civil War because there were so many people in battle fighting for anti-slavery who lost their lives.

In conclusion, I don’t feel the need for reparations. It would just be way too difficult. This country has been built on compromises, and I think we should know the best that not everyone is going to be satisfied. However, if the nation comes to agreement and does want reparations, we should not make ourselves more debt than we already are and make some kind of memorial or museum. Nevertheless, there still is segregation in our society and we should make an effort in fixing this problem. African Americans are still oppressed and I think there should be a stop to this. Reparations won’t necessarily fix this problem, so we shouldn’t waste our time trying to make everyone open-minded through reparations. Then again, America does need to realize that not everyone is open-minded and not everyone is going to agree.

Sincerely,

Mackenzie from Bellevue

Dear, justice talking.

In class at school for the past couple weeks we have been talking about reparations, since a few days ago we have been listening to recording of your show. Ever since I have been thinking a little different about this reparation stuff, like for instance instead of just thinking about it I go more in depth. For example because of slave ancestors the African Americans today have less then they would have if they worked for money and held property during slavery, so I thought what would it be like for the African Americans today if they got paid to work. but I am still in between the to people Adjoa Aiyetoro and Robert Sedler they made good arguments and I give them a ten on that, but I am still in the middle of the two I think that what I said above about the slaves receiving the money is good. I agree with that, it is just how will you know the set amount and who they are that you are giving the money to. I give you a challenge try to come up with a explanation to how that can be explained. and then maybe, when the time comes to vote on it you have at least persuaded one person to do so.

Sincerely Adam Szablya

idiot.

When listening to the debate on reparations, I heard many different points on whether to give them or not. Adjoa Ayetoro made points about how many people benefited from slavery and how America wouldn’t be the same without it, so we should give more than an apology and give the slaves and slave descendents some payback. Towards the end of the argument Ayetoro started to the African American people as “we,” basically including herself into this. This made Robert Sedler’s arguments like a personal attack, because of the fact that Ayetoro is African American. Sedler had many good points, and they were broader than Ayetoro’s. Sedler mentioned that the Civil War was enough of a payback to the slaves because of how many people died to free the slaves. He also mentioned that if we give African Americans reparations, than it will remove the motivation for them to excel and defeat the discrimination. If reparations are given, there will still be discrimination, but it will be the African American’s feeling that the white people are all feeling sorry for them. Both Ayetoro and Sedler made good points, but Sedler’s points made more sense and were broader than Ayetoro’s.

In my opinion reparations should not be given to the African Americans. I agree with all Sedler’s points and more. The strongest point is that 620,000 people died to free the slaves. This was a great loss to our country, but it did free the slaves. If this isn’t enough of a reparation, I do not know what is. Also, if money was decided on as the reparation, then it would be nearly impossible to track down the descendents of slaves and to decide who should pay this very large sum of money. Slavery was legal back then, and it would be too outlandish to give reparations now.

There are many arguments for why there should be reparations, but there are many more on why there shouldn’t be reparations. This is a very controversial topic, and it is good to keep an open mind about it, but at this time I am going to have to say that reparations would not be the way to solve this problem. Maybe some sort of education for the youth of America would be a good form of reparations, but a large sum of money would not help anything.

Sincerely,

AFALL

Dear Justice Talking,

As an American Citizen and a student, I feel the need to respond to this topic having heard this debate between Adjoa Aiyetoro and Robert Sedler. I have noticed many compelling arguments for both sides of this debate, both for and against reparations.

Some of the arguments for reparations I have been exposed to include the idea that American corporations have directly benefited from slavery. Other arguments include the breaking up and division of families, decades of unpaid labor, pain, abuse, rape, and lastly the racism that has subsided but still exists today. The arguments to which I have been exposed to that are against reparations include the idea that it is unknown to whom we would pay these reparations, it is difficult to pay descendants of slaves for their ancestors suffering, some slave owners were in fact black themselves, blacks have raised in status greatly since the times of slavery, and 68 percent of crime today is done by blacks.

While both sides provide strong arguments, I agree mostly with the side against reparations in the current day. I feel and agree with Mr. Sedler that Americans have already paid reparations in the form of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. I believe that the cost of over 600,000 American lives in the Civil War, a cost that exceeds the nation's loss in all its other wars, from the Revolution through Vietnam, is more than enough due payment to the black community and those who have descended from slavery. One also cannot take action against a person for participating in a practice that was legal at the time; they were not outside their legal boundaries. The United States has paid its reparations for the wrongs we did to the blacks in the form of enslavement.

Sincerely,

Tyler Slaymaker

Dear Justice Talking,

The debate between Adjoa Aiyetoro and Robert Sedler raised many heated issues upon the sensitive topic of reparations for the black community to “fix” personal damages done by slavery.

Upon hearing both sides of the issue, I realized that both angles had their points and reasoning behind them, however, Aiyetoro’s background seemed to give her a strong bias towards proving her issue. Because she feels the issue affects her personally, I don’t think that we were given as clear of a view as could have been perceived by someone who is outside the black community but still for reparations.

Among this, Sedler provided the argument that I concur with most. Though slavery was wrong it was legal and has since been abolished. Many lives were lost through the violence and cruelty to slaves, but many American lives were also spent during the civil war simply for the cause of ending slavery. The argument of slavery directly affecting/causing the problems of today’s black America is unjustifiable and seems like a simple excuse. I do not understand how the advocates for reparation feel that something may or may not have been done to their ancestors a very long time ago, but it’s necessary to pay them for their skin color. Someone might have killed my great great great grandfather a very long time ago, but I’m not asking for someone to pay me for it now.

Educating the youth of America on slavery and its affects would be a good way to improve the societal view of what to do about racial inequality, but the black community feels that this is insufficient.

Slavery was a very long time ago and what needs to be done now is to make sure that it doesn’t happen again, not dwell on the fact that it already did.

Sincerely,

_____

Dear Justice Talking,

After listening to the debate between Ms. Aiyetoro and Mr. Sedler, I came to the conclusion that although reparations may be long overdue, it is indeed impractical in modern society and should not be sought through monetary liberation. Instead, we should focus on raising awareness of the subject because only through acceptance and truly overcoming denial can we respect the cruel history of the United States.

Slavery was indeed a very controversial issue until it was finally abolished in the 1860s. Unfortunately, even after slavery had “ended,” discrimination and racial segregation still existed. Because of this mixture of support for the end of slavery, reparations were never made. Reparations were attempted through the “forty acres and a mule” contract, but since this act was never fully instated, African-Americans lost all chances for being paid back with money.

People may argue that reparations have actually already been paid through the lives that were lost in the Civil War, the war to end slavery and reunite the nation. Unfortunately, you cannot equate the loss of lives for glory, for the lives lost through malicious injustice. The only way to truly compensate for the abuse is by raising awareness of the issue, and programs like Justice Talking are great ways to make sure that history isn’t just disregarded, but brought out to full perspective.

Sincerely,

Grace Shim

Dear Justice talking,

I recently listened to your program on reparations for slavery. I would like to add my thoughts to this discussion. I think that there a lot things that can be said about reparations. Personally, I think that reparations should not be made for many reasons. For one: it is impossible to decide who should get reparations. The reason is the fact that it is impossible to figure out who are all the actual descendents of the slaves. The second reason is about how the US and Germany gave reparations to the holocaust victims is because you can give them reparations directly.

However, there are some reasons I think reparations would be good for America. For one if we taught more about this and other stuff it would make racial tensions be less severe. Also, it would be good because it is the responsible thing to do.

Sincerely,

Mike Delarber

Dear Justice Talking,

Many proponents of slave reparations have demanded payment for the damages done to the black race by slavery. Indeed, there are several precedents for such payment – German government and several German corporations are paying holocaust victims for wrongs done to them, and Japanese-Americans were given money in apology for unjust internment during World War 2. However, those who would use such an argument are overlooking a critical part of these reparations – they paid people who were truly, tangibly damaged by wrongs done to them, actual victims of a direct action. Now, over a century after the 13th Amendment was passed, there are no direct victims of slavery.

Certainly, it is possible to look at demographics and average incomes and poverty lines, and certainly, African Americans appear to be suffering. Nevertheless, to say that such widespread poverty has been caused by the lack of the by now metaphorical “40 acres and a mule” owed to previous slaves is at best naïve and at worst foolish. The high crime-rates, low incomes, and poor educations of the vast majority of African Americans cannot possibly be fixed by a check in the mail. For the Black society to move forward, they must get over their perceived need for white money to succeed. Leaders among the Black community must rise up, and teach their people that they have, and always have had, the strength to stand on their own two feet. Only until the Black community itself resolves to make progress based on their own blood sweat and tears can the healing truly begin.

In closing, I will leave you with a question. Is the poverty of inner-city African American’s caused by the absence of a check in the mail? Or is it, rather, a product of sub-par schools, crime-infested streets, and a culture that, whether purposefully or not, places themselves on a rung below whites by believing that in order to succeed, they must receive assistance from white corporations and a white government?

Sincerely,

Nick Cecil

After listening to the debate between Adjoa Aiyetoro and Robert Sedler, it seems as if reparations through the means of money are not necessary to fulfill the desires of Adjoa Aiyetoro. Although both sides present convincing arguments, Sedler provides a more realistic view upon the subject.

According Sedler, we have already done reparations for the slaves through affirmative action and the thirteenth and fifteenth amendment. Affirmative action allows minorities as well as women to further their education beyond high school. It provides more equality, if not makes them superior to your average white male in today’s society. The thirteenth and fifteenth amendments claim that slavery is abolished and that discrimination will not be done because of race, color, or “previous condition of servitude”. It’s not that slavery was illegal at the time either. Slavery in the United States was legal in the 1800s. Furthermore, it is practically impossible to find direct ancestors of slaves because of all the trading that slave holders had previously done. Wouldn’t giving reparations be degrading to the black people? It seems as if we are saying that black Americans are incapable of making a living on their own and they are lazy. Yes, we as Americans do owe a lot to slaves who helped build our country, but it’s not the today’s people’s fault for allowing slavery. Eighty-two percent of United States citizens believe that reparations shouldn’t be made. Where is the point in paying someone who has passed away? It’s all in the past and we must carry on.

I believe that paying reparations through monetary means is ridiculous. It doesn’t pay back the black community in a meaningful way. America needs to find different methods of doing reparations such as education or other such means. We simply need to remember the past and learn from our mistakes to prevent such occurrences in the future.

Sincerely,

Sylvia Yang

I have recently listened to the debate regarding African-American reparations, between Robert Sedler and Adjoa Aiyetoro, and I wish to share my thoughts on the subject.

I have been very interested in the possibility of reparations for African-Americans for a few weeks now. Due to the research I have done, I would consider myself slightly knowledgeable in the area, however, I do not presume to know all there is to know about reparations and the people that would receive them or give them out.

Listening to the debate, I believe I have finally come out with my final standing on the subject. I do believe that reparations should be made, but not in a monetary fashion. I believe that the United States Government should issue a formal apology to the descendents of African slaves. This is for several reasons; one of them being that repaying all the descendents of African slaves the money that their ancestors were denied would almost bankrupt the country. I recognize that the slaves were not given money that they earned, but I do not agree that their descendents should receive this money. If the United States government was going to pay the slaves the money that they deserved they should have done it while the people that deserved it were still alive.

Secondly, it is understandable that some people would think that the conditions that most African American people live under is due to slavery, but I believe it is just an excuse to blame someone else for the their lack of success. Throughout this country, millions of people live in poverty, whether they are Black, White, Asian, or Pilipino. If I were in their situation, I would most assuredly want to get out, and if blaming someone might justify the reason I was there, then I would most likely do it. There are many people in this country that were born under those conditions, and overcame them. Personally, I think anyone can do this, if they take it upon themselves.

Finally, the form of reparations I chose suits this situation because the U.S. government does owe someone an apology. That apology should be issued to each and every family that can prove they are descendents of African Slaves.

Thank you for your time,

Stephanie Pierce

Dear Justice Talking,

This controversy has been discussed many times, but do the African Americans really deserve reparations? Or have they already been given?

Slavery has been a problem when it existed and some feel that its remnants still linger with the descendants of slavery today. Some African Americans believe that reparation should be given to them for what their ancestors had to experience, since slavery basically started racism. However, I feel that their argument regarding the issue of paying reparation is rather weak, while some points are good, others aren’t very persuasive.

When slavery was legal, much of the North knew it was an injustice to keep a human being caged like an animal. When the Civil War was upon the United States, one of the reasons it came was slavery. Thousands of Americans died to free the slaves and to help them make their life better. Isn’t that enough for them? Knowing that our ancestor died to free them? We paid in our life and blood to let them live and try to help them be equal among the whites.

It is true that Holocaust victims received reparation, but that is only because we knew of the survivors. With slavery, we have no way of tracking descendants, even if that was possible, why would Americans want to be taxed to pay reparation to African Americans, when the bigger thing to do would be to treat them equally?

What would the African Americans want for reparation? Money? An apology? I believe nothing could ever be said or given to them to make them understand that what the whites did to them is wrong, all we can do now is give them equality among the United States.

Sincerely,

Andrea

I learned about reparations in my US History class. We read documents and heard debate on reparations. Before I heard debate or learned about reparation, I thought this was just simple problem. But after I learned about this problem and got to know more about reparations I found out that this is one of the most important problems in United Sates of America.

Reason why people are so interested in this topic is because back in slavery Whites were brutal to Blacks. Now Blacks want some payback from the past so they ask government to pay them money or some kind of charity so they know that Whites are sorry about the past. But Whites are saying that we apologized about what happened in the past and they don’t want to think about the past.

I think we shouldn’t pay them back because it was long time ago and people who were involved in slaver are dead. In Germany, they give money to Jewish because of the Holocaust. This can happen because Jews that were involved in Holocaust are still alive. But paying salves back is impossible because we have no record of the slaves and a lot of immigrants moved in to America so if we pay them back we will also paying the people that weren’t involved in this problem.

This will lead into another problem. How about Native Indians? They were kicked out of their own land to little land where they have to do something that they don’t want to do. If we pay the Blacks then Indians will ask us for more favors.

So my final conclusion is reparation is not good idea. It would be way too complicated so solve this problem.

Sincerely,

Student from Newport High School

The dispute about reparations for descendents of slaves is an exceedingly debated matter. I understand that slavery was a horrid practice, but at the time, it was legal. Why should the descendents of slave owners have to pay reparations for the descendents of slaves?

Another problem would be finding the ones whose ancestors were slaves. It would cost millions of dollars just to track those people down, then millions more to fund reparations. Affirmative action has already been put in order along with job training and more opportunities. Many years ago thousands of people died fighting against slavery, they gave their own lives to put an end to it, how much more can you give then your own life?

The real issue here is being avoided, which is racial discrimination. Having a pay-off of reparations isn’t going to help the issue, and could make it worse. People that migrated here from other countries will be forced to pay for something that they never committed, they will be found guilty for something they had nothing to do with. Listening to the debate between Adjoa Aiyetoro and Robert Sedler, proved many points of argument. Aiyetoro stated that the Japanese who were in camps after Pearl Harbor and the people in concentration camps during the holocaust received reparations after they were released therefore descendents of slave should received them as well. The thing about this is that the Japanese and the holocaust survivors received the reparations soon after they were released. The descendents of slaves can hardly be tracked down; it’s been too long to perform this action and therefore can’t be done. Even if we did provide the African Americans in poverty, how can we ignore all the other that are in poverty as well?

Sincerely,

Shannon Armitage

After listening to the program about giving reparations for African American for slavery, I have learned more about it and how it affects United States. I would like to share my response about reparations. I believe that it is not a good idea to give reparations.

During class, we have talked about the pros and cons for reparations. We have discussed thoroughly and I thought that the negative impact toward this is more effective than the positive impact. Even though there are many arguments for yes for reparations, I said no. This is because I think that not giving them reparation keeps their honor and shows how much they have gone through. Giving it to African American is like trading their honor for more benefits. Besides, it would be too difficult to find all the descendents. Slaves that had suffered through that period of time may have died and it is not necessary to pay someone who has already past away. Adjora Aiyetoro stated that one third of the African American are below poverty level. There are many diversity and it would be so unfair to all the others.

It may be true that many who are suffering due to the lack of money are caused by slavery but it doesn’t give reasons to give those who need it. Everyone nowadays think that they need the reparations but it may not be true. African American these day still get discriminated like find a job and giving reparations does not end the discriminations. It just keeps on going. I think that if there was to be any reparations that it should be for educational reasoning just like how Robert Sedler suggested.

After all this that have been said, I would like to thank you for the educational program. It has taught me a lot about reparations and I hope that everyone can all focus on helping our country into a better place for all.

Thank you,

Jennifer Phan