Reparations Daily (ish) Vol. 11
Germany has no statues of Hitler, so why do we have Confederate statues?
Happy Friday! We made it to the end of another week! Welcome to all newcomers, we’re glad that you’re here.
Lifting up a few articles that have caught my eye since Wednesday:
A USC professor named David Ross published this great op-ed in the Forward Magazine that discusses how Germany has atoned for the Holocaust and how the U.S. could learn something from them. Check out the Hot Takes section for our thoughts on the piece.
Eugene, OR is considering reparations for “Black, Indigenous, and people of color.” There’s not much info on this in the article, otherwise, I’d offer my thoughts. We’ll keep an eye on it and offer thoughts as the story develops.
This NPR episode examines where the money for the anti-CRT movement is coming from.
Since it was a slower news day, I’m lifting up a couple of pieces of research that I often go back to. The Center for American Progress’s 2019 simulation of how different policies affect the racial wealth gap is one of the best research papers out there. There is also a February 2021 paper published in the National Bureau of Economic Research that essentially says that while reparations would eliminate the Black-white wealth gap, it would reemerge later because Black people wouldn’t invest their newfound capital because they are more risk-averse. I disagree, but I think it’s an interesting paper to look into.
We’re going to start interviewing folks within the reparations advocacy field. We’ll transcribe the interviews in our Hot Takes section, likely once a month. If you have any interest in being interviewed shoot us an email!
With radical love,
Trevor
National News
Forward: Reparations helped Germany atone for its past. They can help America, too
Forbes: Ex-JPMorgan Chase Exec Has A Plan To Narrow Racial Wealth Gap In Every Major U.S. City
Slate: How to Avoid the Culture War Trap Around Critical Race Theory
NPR: Uncovering Who Is Driving The Fight Against Critical Race Theory In Schools
MSNBC: Joint chiefs chair Milley schools Gaetz on Critical Race Theory
Center for American Progress: Simulating How Progressive Proposals Affect the Racial Wealth Gap (August 2019)
Center for American Progress: Truth and Reconciliation (August 2019)
National Bureau of Economic Research: REPARATIONS AND PERSISTENT RACIAL WEALTH GAPS (Feburary 2021)
Washington Post: Rep. Bob Good apparently called ‘racist’ as he questioned Biden official on critical race theory
Forbes: New Online Economic History Courses Plan To Address America’s Wealth Gap
NPR: The Battle Over Teaching Critical Race Theory
USA Today: Critical race theory and loving America are not mutually exclusive. My journey with CRT.
Washington Post: The White Scare: The critical race theory debate echoes with history
US News & World Report: Bills Banning Critical Race Theory Advance in States Despite Its Absence in Many Classrooms
Washington Post: The irony of complaints about Nikole Hannah-Jones’s advocacy journalism
Regional News
KLCC: Eugene Councilors Discuss Reparations
Cal Matters: Equity depends on collecting data by ethnicity
STL PR: St. Louis Archdiocese Uncovers Its Own History With Slavery In Midst Of National Reckoning
Hot Takes
Forward: Reparations helped Germany atone for its past. They can help America, too
I recently watched a webinar that featured Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy, and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative. He discussed how unfathomable it would be to see a statue of Hitler in Germany because the German people as a whole still felt extreme guilt over the Holocaust. Yet, here in the United States, there are an estimated 1,700 public symbols of the Confederacy. In this opinion piece, Steven Ross highlights how Germany has embraced reparations, not only in its monetary form but also with statements and memorials to the victims of the Holocaust.
Ross states that the U.S. can learn two things from Germany’s approach to reparations:
To truly heal, we must collectively acknowledge the nation’s long history of slavery and racism and;
We must make reparations to the Black community
It is not my place to say whether or not Jewish people have forgiven Germany and its people for the atrocities of the Holocaust. Though what can be said objectively is that German has reckoned with its horrible past far better than the United States — one only has to look around to the racist symbols that persist around the country today.
Atonement and reconciliation is a long process and one that the United States has never fully embarked on.