And white Americans can make reparations for slavery and the century of de jure racial discrimination that followed with monetary restitution, educational programs, and the kinds of equal opportunities that will ensure the social and economic success of all citizens.A book that is both an unflinching indictment of past wrongs and an impassioned call to our nation to educate all Americans—black and white alike—about the history of Africa and its people, Haiti, from Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President How would it feel to be severed from all that. It's definitely a reference book for the rational and researched advantages of such a proposal which is also well documented and defended. THE RECKONING: What Blacks Owe … It is not a new book but it remains relevant.Thought provoking read. In this powerful and controversial book, distinguished African-American political leader and thinker Randall Robinson makes a persuasive case for the restoration of the rich history that slavery and segregation severed. What would that do to a person? What would it feel like to bMost people don't know what it means to be deprived of historical roots. I can't overstate how much of an influence This book and Mr. Robinson's lifework has had on my thinking and writing. Class is also not ignored.I learned a lot about other countries and how they have dealt with reparations to their citizens due to different kinds of enslavement. And then on top of that also to be barred from full participation in a society bred on generations of slavery and quasi-slavery. Also an easy read, it's not dense and filled with facts, it's more like Iike a story with lovely prose. For a Sociology of African Americans class, we had to do five glorified book reports; this was a sixth for extra credit. January 1st 2001 Even though the government, in many places, did not actively support slavery it both didn't actively fight against it and also benefited from it.In this book, Robinson makes the argument that America can never get over the issues of racism unless we acknowledge the impact that slavery had on blacks. The spirits were present on the tiny unmarked parcel at Mount Vernon that early autumn afternoon. Recommended to Naeem by: Sean Shelves: reparations. In particular he has a part where he takes the "life arc" of a hypothetical, newly emancipated slave and traces that slave's probably experience in the South, family life, move up north in the Great Migration, and difficulties with subsequent generations being trapped in the ghettos of Northern cities...He starts out eloquently describing his alienation from all these historic figures in DC museums that he'd like to admire, as an American- but his enthusiasm is tempered when he realizes how these typically lionized figures contributed to the existence and continuance of slavery....his argument for reparations is frankly compelling and convincing- I do not share his fervor for it, mainly because it isn't possible here, despite the compensation given to interned Japanese/Chinese during WWII for, frankly, much less. When a person's ancestral past, culture and blood lineage from where each of get a sense of who we are from where we came, is ripped from them and essentially and actually erased, there is psychic loss of identity.
Robinson does not focus on Native Americans here but does emphasize that genocide in several places, though it's out of his scope. We have more information but less knowledge. When each succeeding generation flows from the economic impoverishment forced upon them by the ruling people, added to the psychological impoverishmPoint well made that when any one of us humans suffer, we all suffer. by Plume Premise is we owe the descendants of slaves pay for the work done by their ancestors.The entire book is powerful, but I recommend that you read it for the last two chapters alone.I read chapter 9 for my grad class and here was my reaction to his take on reparations:I read chapter 9 for my grad class and here was my reaction to his take on reparations:One of the most important books I've ever read. Great read. Even though this book was first published 15 years ago, it is still entirely relevant. In particular he has a part where he takes the "life arc" of a hypothetical, newly emancipated slave and traCould not have read two more diametrically opposed viewpoints than Buchanan's "Death of the West" and Robinson's book...but both are good, important reads. 2000, 262 pages. get this and keep it in your library. What would it feel like to be severed and then barred in this way? More goods but less goodwill. Reparations to give back what was stolen is a minimal expectation. Both an unflinching indictment of past wrongs and an impassioned call to America to educate its citizens about the history of Africa and its people, The Debt says in no uncertain terms what white America owes blacks—and what blacks owe themselves.In this powerful and controversial book, distinguished African-American political leader and thinker Randall Robinson argues for the restoration … This book is more than about whites and blacks, it is about what ‘America’ (whites, blacks, and all in between) can do to right the wrong of the past that continues to be a burden among society today. Most people don't know what it means to be deprived of historical roots. This book is more than about whites and blacks, it is about what ‘America’ (whites, blacks, The history between America and Africans is undeniably full of tension. Drawing from research and personal experience, he shows that only by reclaiming their lost past and proud heritage can blacks lay the foundation for a viable future. So distracted have we become sating this new need or that material appetite, we hardly noticed the departure of happiness”“I am not a churchgoing man. By Randall Robinson New York, NY: Dutton.
The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks - Kindle edition by Robinson, Randall. Reparations to give back what was stolen is a minimal expectation. Randall Robinson is the founder and president of TransAfrica, the organization that spearheaded the movement to influence U.S. policies toward international black leadership. One of the most important books I've ever read. To anyone trying to understand America today.