What does the term reparations mean? Here are some examples and definitions
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More about the 1917 massacre and reparations
More information about the 1917 massacre in East St. Louis and reparations.
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When Americans hear the word “reparations,” they might think of providing direct payments to descendants of Black people who were enslaved and tortured during the country’s youth.
But the word’s connotation can change drastically depending on the historical context and what victims feel needs to be done and by whom.
In 2020, Americans became more broadly aware of the term after the police killings of Black people led to widespread civil unrest. While the concept of reparations for slavery and its aftermath isn’t new, awareness has increased about slavery’s far-reaching effects on wealth, health, education and other areas where Black Americans face inequity.
Dictionary definitions of reparations, such as Merriam-Webster’s, refer specifically to payments from one nation to another after war or conflict, but reparations don’t always take monetary form.
It could be an apology, a recognition of terrible wrongdoing, government assistance or services, policy changes, or a variety of other efforts to atone. These steps are sometimes known as reconciliation.
Proponents say reparations in whatever form can help victims and their descendants heal, while opponents say there’s no way to make up for the atrocities of something like slavery through economic means. Others yet say it’s too late, that today’s government shouldn’t be held responsible for past evils.
Here’s a look at some historical examples of reparations in their varied forms, how they are taking shape in 2021, and what elected officials are calling for now.
20th century examples of reparations
Payments, apologies to Japanese Americans
When President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, he authorized paying surviving victims of Japanese-American internment camps $20,000 each, a program totaling $1.2 billion. Four years later, President George H.W. Bush authorized $400 million in additional payments and formally apologized for internment on behalf of the U.S. government.
Reconciliation began as early as 1976, however, when President Gerald Ford recognized the camps as a “national mistake” and revoked the executive order that led to their incarceration.
“Learning from our mistakes is not pleasant, but as a great philosopher once admonished, we must do so if we want to avoid repeating them,” Ford said in his proclamation. “We now know what we should have known then — not only was that evacuation wrong, but Japanese-Americans were and are loyal Americans.”
Reparations to Native Americans
From 1946 to 1978, the United States government paid more than $800 million to Native American tribes after the Indian Claims Commission processed over 500 claims, but the reparations did not include the wholesale return of stolen land, leaving many tribes feeling the damage had not been atoned for.
Germany’s reparations
In 1952, West Germany agreed to pay $7 billion worth of assistance in today’s dollars, rather than cash payments, to help Israel build its economy because “unspeakable crimes (against Jews) have been committed in the name of the German people,” according to the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Recent examples, future of reparations
Evanston
The Chicago suburb Evanston approved a plan in 2019 to provide reparations to Black residents to atone for years of housing discrimination by the municipal government that made it difficult or impossible for them to live and work in the city. The money comes from a 3% tax on recreational marijuana, and $25,000 in initial payments will be awarded this summer to Black residents for help with home down-payments, mortgage payments or home repairs, ABC 7 Chicago reported.
Jesuits, Saint Louis University and the Archdiocese of St. Louis
Jesuits, an order of Catholic priests, pledged $100 million earlier this year to a foundation that will go toward scholarships and racial reconciliation work, not direct payments. Jesuits in Missouri enslaved more than 150 Black people between 1823 and 1865, St. Louis Public Radio reported in June. Their labor helped build St. Louis College, later to become Saint Louis University — a fact the school acknowledged in 2016.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis is also working to acknowledge its involvement in slavery by identifying the people the church enslaved.
State, federal efforts
A bill (HR 40) under consideration in Congress would establish a commission to study and develop reparations proposals to atone for the role of the U.S. government and its colonies in slavery starting in 1619. The commission would also look at how to remedy the ongoing effects of slavery on Black Americans.
The bill, sponsored by Democratic U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, awaits a vote in the House.
In California, state lawmakers passed legislation in 2020 establishing a task force to consider reparations for Black residents. The task force will meet 10 times over the next two years, the Los Angeles Times reported.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow do you define reparations?
How do you define reparations? What is missing from our definition? What do you believe needs to happen, if anything, to atone for slavery? The BND wants to hear from you. Email us at newsroom@bnd.com with your thoughts.
