Reparations

Sunday, June 30, 2019
First Aired:
Sunday, February 5, 2017

What Is It

The United States brutally enslaved African Americans for its first hundred or so years of existence. For the next hundred years, black Americans were lynched, deprived of basic rights, and widely discriminated against. Now, while there are still certainly racial injustices to deal with, how are we to respond to the racial injustices of the past? Does time really heal all wounds? Could it ever be legitimate to compensate the descendants of slaves for burdens they themselves did not bear? Likewise, why should the descendants of slave-owners be made to pay for crimes they did not commit? John and Ken welcome Michael Dawson from the University of Chicago, author ofNot in Our Lifetimes: The Future of Black Politics.

Listening Notes

今天的黑人是否应为美国过去的种族主义行为承担赔偿责任?除了奴隶制的恐怖之外，美国的历史还包括上个世纪的种族歧视和种族主义住房政策，以及现在的大规模监禁、公立学校的失败和警察的暴行。但是，过去的不公正是否被稀释得不足以补偿?难道赔款在政治上太不可行，我们不需要认真考虑吗?

John and Ken welcomes political scientist and University of Chicago professor Michael Dawson to the show. Dawson talks about the need for this country to face its racist past. Ken wonders that after so many decades of racism, aren’t we past conversations? Dawson doesn’t think so; we have much to disagree about. How much do we agree on when it comes to issues of social justice? As an example, Dawson cites the vastly differential support for reparations across racial lines: 90 percent of white people reject it, 60 to 70 percent of black people support it.

赔款是要让白人负责吗?道森不认为这是正确的思考方式;instead, we ought toall负责。约翰把讨论的重点放在涉及赔款的具体建议上。肯进一步质疑在赔偿方面建立恢复性司法问题的好处是什么。一位听众打来电话，询问赔偿的宗教理由。主人和客人都不太相信。肯提出了西蒙娜·德·波伏娃对过去的看法，并对其采取了一种美学态度。

Dawson agrees with Ken that it would be harder politically to frame the issue in terms of reparations, but Dawson insists that it is still the just outcome. Along this vein, the conversation moves towards the political feasibility of reparations. It becomes clear how much Americans don’t like talking about race. But Dawson powerfully makes the point that most victories won by black people in this country has appeared impossible. Changing hearts and minds isn’t always necessary; increasing black power and creating political conflict may suffice.

  • Roving Philosophical Report (seek to 6:02):Shuka Kalantari首先报道了德国对大屠杀的赔偿。然后我们会听到理查德·爱泼斯坦反对奴隶赔偿的案件。他认为，公共机构不应该优先照顾任何种族群体，尤其是考虑到追踪奴隶制受害者是多么困难。
  • Sixty Second Philosopher (seek to 45:06):Ian Shoales contrasts Ta-Nehisi Coates’ argument for reparations and the alt-right’s rebuttals.

Transcript

Comments(1)

Harold G. Neuman's picture

Harold G. Neuman

Monday, June 24, 2019 -- 12:04 PM

I have only one primary

I have only one primary remark, in the form of a question: If the United States goes down the reparation path, what then should the rest o the world do about its' racist, slavery-driven past? Make no mistake, slavery was never a sole province of this country. Anyone who thinks so ought to look more deeply into world history. Justice is not something only pertinent to those who have suffered while living in America. As to the notion of reparations for blacks living here now; those whose ancestors were enslaved or even those old ones who were themselves slaves, I have a secondary question: how much are we to award them? and, a tertiary question: will such reparation(s) supply 'make-whole' relief, such that the matter of race discrimination will be forever and always forgotten? (My only answer is for the third question: I just don't think so.)

We are getting to what John Stuart Mill called 'the religion of humanity', or more familiarly, Humanism. I have just begun reading Mill, so I do not know whether he had any comments on slavery in general or enslavement of black people specifically. But I suspect he had some ideas about the practice, whether he wrote of them or not.