In 2014 Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote “The Case for Reparations,” a landmark essay for The Atlantic, detailing the reasons behind the reparations movement.
Coates contended that almost every institution tied to U.S. history, public and private, stole resources and wealth from African Americans. This piracy overwhelmingly enriched white Americans,e bolstered racist institutions, and enabled oppression to continue from the end of the civil war until today, The Guardian reported.
In his essay, Coates declared, “The implications are chilling. As a rule, poor Black people do not work their way out of the ghetto—and those who do often face the horror of watching their children and grandchildren tumble back.”
The writer has continued to express his support for reparations.
“Enslavement reigned for 250 years on these shores. When it ended, this country could have extended its hollow principles of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness to all,” Coates, said during the H.R. 40 congressional hearing. “But America had other things in mind.”
