Reparations for Modern Day Inequalities

As part of the English 101.003 Writing Seminar taught by Dr. Anne Porter in Fall 2015 at Providence College, this essay was written in response to an assignment to articulate a central question about slavery reparations. The essay explores the question from various angles and makes reference to Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? by Michael J. Sandel, “The Case for Reparations” from The Atlantic (June 2014) by Ta-Nehisi Coates, as well as at least one additional, scholarly source. The essay is written for college-age readers, who are interested in the issue and asking the same questions. Abstract: My essay Reparations for Modern Day Inequalities is an exploratory essay that uses insight from several scholars to explore the question of what modern day inequalities might reparations, for African Americans, address. A major part of this essay suggests that institutional discrimination and injustice goes beyond slavery. The disparities of African Americans mentioned are housing and the education and wealth gap; three topics that have transcended time. The reparations explored to address these very prevalent disparities include improving African American communities and neighborhoods in various ways, supporting black-owned businesses as well as providing job training, and making schools in African American communities more adequate. It is important to remember that this essay does not make any claims, but simply examines some possibilities that could help fix these modern day inequalities