Dispossession, White Supremacy, and the Case for Reparations
If we want to heal from our past, we must first acknowledge it, and then repair.
Welcome to Let’s Not Be Trash, this post is a part of a larger series titled, “Our Ancestor’s Hands Do Work” It’s a collection of essays and conversations that highlight leaders, ideas, movements, and moments from the rich history of Blackness. You can keep track of all of the essays here.
If you’re new, please consider subscribing, if you’re already on the list and have a few coins, consider upgrading to a paid subscriber. If you have commitment issues but want to contribute, you can buy me a coffee.
If you like my substack and want to discover other great writers, check out this directory fromMarc Typo, called TheCook-Out.
On a hot July in 1915, fresh off of the assassination of Haitian President, Vilbrun Guillaume Sam the United States Government, with authority given by President, Woodrow Wilson made the decision to send Marines to the country in an effort to “maintain political and economic stability in the Caribbean.” Publicly, the government explained their actions by highlighting the “political instability in Haiti” as well as the increased amount of German commerce, unfortunately for the people America’s rhetoric was completely removed from their real intentions. In truth, the U.S. Government had considered Haiti a place of interest for years, and while there was some concern about losing a prime territory to France, or even Germany, it was viewed as an ideal location for a military base, or coaling station.
Upon arrival, the United States took $500,000 from the Haitian National Bank in for “safe-keeping” and established an occupation that lasted 19 years and saw over 10,000 Haitians killed in the name of American imperialism. America’s involvement in the continued stripping of Haiti has fallen through the cracks of history, but a lapse in discussion does not erase what our (U.S.A.) country did. Unfortunately, as grotesque as what happened in Haiti is, it barely reaches the tip of the iceberg in the ways that our government has destabilized, occupied, and flat-out taken land, resources, and freedom away from people. The truth is, that much of our might comes from a dark history of unspeakable sins.
When America wasn’t taking land, and money from Haiti, it was doing the same to it’s Black Citizens. According to Inequality.org, “at the beginning of the 20th century, African Americans owned at least 14 million acres of land. By the 21st century, 90 percent of the land had been stolen from them.” This theft took place through a combination of efforts, led, protected, or supported by the federal government. And like their counterparts in Haiti, African Americans continue to struggle to recover from the dispossession that happened to them on American Soil.
America’s sins run deep, and no online newsletter could properly document the depth of damage we have done to the world, but listing failures doesn’t negate them, true repair comes from truth and accountability. One of the simplest ways to pay for this country’s sins would be through reparations. According to the United Nations, “Reparations are the act or process of making amends for a wrong.”
And while the idea of giving Black people money, land, or other resources to amend for the sins of white supremacy may seem crazy, America is not new to the concept. According to the Brookings Institute, “Native Americans have received land and billions of dollars for various benefits and programs for being forcibly exiled from their native lands. For Japanese Americans, $1.5 billion was paid to those who were interned during World War II.” There is enough history and evidence to justify a need for Reparations, that isn’t the issue. We face several challenges, but I would like to discuss 2.
Cost/Scope: The amount of harm this government has done to Black people through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Redlining, and the war on drugs is so substantial, that there may be no fair way to quantify the financial value. How do you give financial repayment for centuries worth of destruction, and harm, and where do you draw the line? Do we just give Reparations to American Descendants of Slaves? The simple answer is yes, we absolutely should, but that doesn’t negate the damage this country has inflicted on Black nations outside of the U.S. To provide financial repair for America’s sins could be the thing that bankrupts this country. Having said that, we must still do it, and there are people much smarter than me with ideas of how that can happen.
For example, The National African American Reparations Commission has a ten-point plan for Reparations, you can find their ten-point plan here. California, and New York both have Reparations Task Forces, aimed at looking into the need for reparations and how it could be executed. Meanwhile, Evanston, Illinois became the first U.S. city to pay Reparations to its Black Residents. But still, even if we can find a way to pay Reparations, we will face another glaring roadblock to healing.
White Supremacy and It’s Hold on American Culture:
As easy as it would be to assume that the people who permitted the institutions of slavery, colonialism, dispossession, murder, and rape were evil, that answer would be far too simple. in an honest world, we must accept that all people, no matter how they show up, have some belief that they are the heroes in their own stories. It’s why the Trump administration can justify family separation, and an open distaste for Black, and Brown people, while also claiming to have Christian values. It’s why mass shooters can see themselves as a victim “pushed to the edge.” That belief is backed by a story they and others tell themselves, and a shared idea that turns the behavior of one into an American identity. For the United States, that “Idea” is white supremacy.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, White Supremacy is the “belief that white people constitute a superior race and should therefore dominate society, typically to the exclusion or detriment of other racial and ethnic groups.” This idea has given people, organizations, and institutions the space to permit the kind of atrocities listed above, but as much as white supremacy has done irreparable damage to Black, and Brown people, it is destroying the soul of white America. Like Reparations, there are examples of how we can address white supremacy.
In South Africa, the country went through a process widely known as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was created to investigate gross human rights violations that were perpetrated during the period of the Apartheid regime from 1960 to 1994, including abductions, killings, and torture. Its mandate covered both violations by both the state and the liberation movements and allowed the commission to hold special hearings focused on specific sectors, institutions, and individuals.”
The final report from this commission named perpetrators, and concluded with a list of recommendations. They included:
Detailed recommendations for a reparations program including financial, symbolic and community reparations. The commission proposed that each victim or family should receive approximately USD 3,500 each year for six years.
The commission further recommended that South Africa’s society and political system should be reformed to include faith communities, businesses, the judiciary, prisons, the armed forces, the health sector, media and educational institutions in a reconciliation process.
Prosecution should be considered in cases where amnesty was not sought or was denied if evidence existed.
The commission’s work should be preserved by archiving its documents.
You can find the full report here.
By no means are things completely healed, or perfect in South Africa, to this day it still suffers from breathtaking levels of income inequality, and its own set of unaddressed racial issues. Having said that, the process they undertook is one of the boldest and clearest examples of a nation trying to right its wrongs. America cannot separate itself from white supremacy, it is too deeply ingrained into our fabric, it is the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the delusion behind our “idealism.” However, it doesn’t have to define us, we can choose to break the cycle of harm and write a new history, one that isn’t plastered in blood.
Reading List and Other Resources:
Great read. Especially after the news that some French politicians are considering repaying Haiti for its independence recognition payment.
A lot of other countries also need to heal and provide reparations to countries and citizens they have wronged, and continue to harm.