Recovering from injustice

The evening started off with a simple question.\n"Does America owe African-Americans reparations for the slavery of their ancestors?" Delta Sigma Theta chapter member Cheneel McNutt asked.\nBy the end of the night, there was no simple answer.\nAs a part of their week of "Jabberwock" events sponsored by the sorority, Delta Sigma Theta held a program Wednesday night entitled "Reparations for African-Americans: Governmental Obligation or Unjustifiable Compensation?" \nAlong with brief lectures encompassing different viewpoints about reparations, people expressed their feelings about the subject in song and poetry.\n"I think it comes across people's minds," McNutt said. "I think people don't discuss it and they wait until catastrophe happens to talk about it."\nMcNutt was inspired to plan a program on reparations after watching the reparations rally in Washington D.C. on Marcus Garvey's birthday this past summer, she said.\nThe three speakers McNutt petitioned to speak at the event represented viewpoints from across the reparations spectrum. Although they all agreed that something should be done to correct the racial wrongs in American society, there was no clear consensus among the three.\nLong-time civil rights activist and chairman of the National Black United Front Dr. Conrad Worril presented a strong case for reparations in its most traditional sense. \nWorril said the reparations movement has deep roots in the "40 acres and a mule" proposition that was a part of post-civil war reconstruction. The nature of how African-Americans were brought to the country also adds fuel to the reparations fire.\n"Other people had a choice (to come to America)," he said. "African people had no choice. They were captured."\nWorril is an advocate of a plan that would provide reparations internally and externally for the African-American community. He said that in addition to the work that must be done to repair the damaged innerworkings of the African- \nAmerican community, the government and corporations that benefitted from slavery should take responsibility for their actions as well. \n"The reparations movement is not going away," he said.\nIU professor Lawrence Hanks also said he believes in the push for reparations but would like to see them materialize in the form of an education program. Hanks talked about a system that would allow African-Americans to receive free education for 40 years. Hanks referred to Randall Robinson's concept of "institution building" as a way to equalize the races in society.\n"Everyone would have a chance at equal education," he said. "African-Americans would get two generations of free education … which answers the question of how much and how long." \nHanks said he is troubled that African-Americans cannot even get an apology for slavery.\n"Forget about the money," he said. "What about an apology?"\nIU law professor Kevin Brown said he would also like to see something positive come out of such a negative experience, but he said he believes asking for any sort of monetary compensation is somewhat of a pipe dream.\nThere are two fundamental problems in asking for a large sum of money, Brown said. First, the politics behind procuring such funds would be difficult. Brown said there is no historical precedent to indicate that Congress would be prepared to approve such legislation. Even if Congress did accept some sort of financial compensation, Brown said the next obstacle would be getting the legislation through the courts.\n"I can't imagine a scenario where reparations are going to be paid to African-Americans," he said.\nBrown said the key to unlocking the problem of reparations is to look at the issue from a psychological standpoint. He said that talking about unattainable funds will only "increase the sense of injustice."\nThe way to start the healing process is to talk about the strengths and accomplishments of African-Americans, Brown concluded.\nFreshman Alexis Carter, freshman Sean Warsaw and sophomore Ueline Newmon expressed both frustration and hope through song and poetry.\n"We need, we want, we deserve reparations. The truth is there will only be a 'Uh, I am sorry,' but we haven't received that yet. I guess it happened a long time ago to them, so it's easy to forget," Newmon read in his poem.\nEven though the crowd was smaller than she hoped for, McNutt said she was pleased with the evening. \n"I wish the crowd had been more diverse," she said. "I wish more people would have come out to see how they felt."\nMcNutt said it is important to talk about these issues before they escalate into a more difficult situation, as evidenced by the fallout that occurred after the Horowitz advertisement ran in the Indiana Daily Student two years ago.\nSophomore Mark Osborne had not planned on attending the event until he noticed the reception set up in the IMUG, he said.\n"I liked it a lot," he said. "When you think of reparations normally you think of big bags of money. But that is not really what the issue is. I think if more people were educated about it there would be better discussions."\nSenior Delali Dagadu said she got a better idea about the lasting effects of slavery.\n"The impact that slavery had on people in this country is a sore that will never be healed," she said.