Slavery and Reparation in America

Repariation will Serve Justice for Slavery
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Introduction
Reparations are defined as payments (monetary and nonmonetary) awarded to a group proven to have suffered harm as a result of actions such as slavery, human trafficking, and forced labor. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human rights, “in the wake of human rights violations, authoritarian rule, or conflict, reparation programs become an essential consideration in the delivery of justice to victims” (OHCHR, 2008). Clearly, international human rights laws recognize the rights of human rights victims to pursue claims for reparation before its national justice mechanism or before international forums if the local justice mechanism fails. Slavery, even though committed over 250 years ago, still ranks among the top ten worst human rights violations of all time. throughout the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, thousands of people were kidnapped from Africa and forced into slavery in many of America’s colonies. They were subjected to slavery where they offered unpaid labor and service in key sectors such as agriculture and industries. Slaves played a key role in production of cotton and tobacco, but at the expense of their right to life, right to property, legal rights, and right to freedom. The westward expansion in the 19th century together with the abolitionist movements triggered a massive debate on slavery, and eventually saw America experience the bloody Civil war (1861-1865). The union victory saw over 4 million enslaved African American’s gain the freedom they always yarned for. But even with the passage of key legislation such as the ratification of the 13th amendment in post-independence 1865, the struggles faced by African American's hardly reduced, and extended far beyond the 19th and 20th centuries. Slavery was characterized with massive violation of human rights (i.e., segregation, force labor, rape, reparation of blacks is the ultimate pathway to justice.
Slavery and Reparation in America
Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1: Escaped slave, Gordon, Retrieved from /item/2018648117/240030016764000Office of the United Nations Higher Commission of Human rights notes that, in the occurrence of events that breach a nation's obligation to protect human rights, redress and reparation are due to the affected people or groups. Reparation remains the only option to right off the horrific wrongs that marred the United States over 200 years ago. American slavery was historically inhumane mainly because it embraced all the depravities of theft, rape, torture, and murder. In America, the debate for slavery began in 1865 President Abraham Lincoln's government issued a Special Filed order no.15 authorizing 400,000 acres of land to be subdivided into 40-acre plots and given freely to newly freed slaves (Darby, 2010). The 40 acres came with a mule and through which, blacks would start a new and free life. However, the assassination of President Lincoln never saw the actual implementation of the "40 acres and mule" project, with the 400,000-acre land being reverted back to former confederates (former slave owners).
Former slaves continued to pursue reparation individually and through groupings such as Bounty and Pension Association (MRB&PA). however, all these efforts were fruitless, as the government continued to thwart any call for reparation to victims of slavery. Surprisingly, while the US continued to frustrate any call for reparation by former slaves, it paid out reparations for other wrongdoings. For example, the USA, paid reparations to Japanese American's immediately after WWII as stipulated in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (Craemer, 2018). On top of paying reparations to the Japanese for forcefully relocating and incarcerating them in camps after the Pearl Harbor attack, the United States government did not only acknowledge but also apologized for the crimes committed during the 1940s. The most recent argument by the US government is that slavery was abolished many years ago and there with no traceable victim it is no longer viable to pay reparations. Other arguments against reparation for slavery are costly and would cost the state a huge fortune. More so, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated in 2019 that, "that slavery was an "original sin" and since America has made several strides to rectify the wrongs, the idea of reparation was not possible" (Huddleston, 2019).
Slavery impacted victims and descendants of slaves even to this day.
According to Kunnie (2018), slavery, and historical discrimination are what has continually exposed African American's to debilitating economic, health, and educational hardship. Blacks played a critical role in the agricultural sector (cotton fields) and were also offered almost free labor throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Even post-independence, ex-slaves and their offspring suffered discrimination, racism, and massive inequalities in health, jobs, and education. Arguably, the high wealth gap between whites and blacks and the high rate of incarceration dates back to many years. according to the Federal Reserve 2019 survey, the median wealth gap for American whites was $188,200 compared to African American's $24100.
Reparation for Former Slaves
Reparation takes many forms including monetary compensations, system restructuring measures aimed at rehabilitation, restitution, formal acknowledgment, and guarantee of non-repetition. For democratic nations, reparation remains the key element of both redress and accountability. Slavery like the German holocaus...