Washington Post opinion writer Jonathan Capehart has a controversial opinion about slave reparations, and it has touched more than a few nerves.
As one person tweeted: “In the landscape of capitalism all ‘the Blacks’ really deeply desire is an ‘I’m sorry’. GTFOH!”
Another tweeted: “What the hell is an apology going to do if the conditions of structural racism still exist? LMAO.”
“Be honest. When you hear the word ‘reparations’ in relation to compensation to African Americans for the sin of slavery, you think of a check from the U.S. Treasury, one in the amount of “priceless” for more than two centuries of free and forced labor followed by the ongoing impacts and persistence of racism, discrimination and white supremacy. And then you wonder where that money is going to come from and who’s going to get it,” Capehart started.
Capehart goes on to note how complex the issue is and lays out some background of H.R. 40.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 64: Tunde Ogunlana Part 1:
Jamarlin talks to Tunde Ogunlana, the CEO of Axial Family Advisors, a wealth planning firm. We discuss what an inverted yield curve usually means in the bond market.
“To address the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission to study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of slavery, its subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African-Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes,” he wrote.
But Capehart has an issue with the phrase — “appropriate remedies,” which he calls a golf umbrella of legislative terms. According to the writer, cash reparations would be tricky to figure out and distribute. But he added, “a national apology” is a must.
Capehart wrote he thinks Blacks want an apology above all else — and just an apology.
“At bottom, I bet you an apology is what African Americans want most. An acknowledgment of the pain and suffering, an expression of sorrow for the mistreatment and degradation, and an ‘I’m sorry’ for the abasement of our ancestors and the disrespect (still) endured by their descendants. No check of any amount could substitute the priceless psychological benefit of a simple and sincere apology. Without one, our nation will never escape this endless loop of tragedy. We will never reconcile. We will never move forward,” he wrote.
