PRO

We say it is true: The USFG ought to pay reparations to African Americans.

TALK IS CHEAP! Put our money where our mouth is and lets fix centuries of
wrong and injustice that are still having huge negative effects today.
FRAMEWORK: Keep in mind the framework to judge this debate: To win, the pro
side does not have to prove that every single bit of the horrible past injustice the
US government allowed will be reversed. We only have to show that we OUGHT to
change and restore the full relationship of a group unjustly treated as slaves for
centuries, then mistreated at great cost by a government that allowed further
decades of job, housing, and political voting discrimination to great harm.

DEFINITIONS:
USFG is legislative, executive and judicial branch
Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia,
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/United+States+federal+government
The government of the United States, established by the Constitution, is a federal
republic of 50 states. The national government consists of the executive,
legislative, and judicial branches. The head of the executive branch is the
President of the United States of America. The legislative branch consists of the
United States Congress, while the United States Supreme Court is the head of the
judicial branch.

Reparations is about collective repair of an injustice

Samuel Williams, Phd Philosophy, 2011, FROMOPPRESSIONTODEMOCRACY:AN
ARGUMENTFORREPARATIONSFORAFRICANAMERICANSFROMADISCOURSE
ETHICSPERSPECTIVEhttp://etd.lib.msu.edu/islandora/object/etd%3A1110/datastream/OBJ/view DOA: 6-27-15

Here, one might have a question as to why and how I distinguish corrective justice
from reparations. I use reparations rather than corrective justice because of
the use of the term reparations in the current discourse of repairing social
relationships. Both of these terms invoke the idea of returning an unjust social
relationship to a just one. The similarity of the terms follows from the similarity of
their root terms. In common usage of the terms to correct means to alter a
situation, circumstance, technique or tool to its desired state (eliminate mistakes).
On the other hand to repair means to return a situation to its original condition.
Corrective justice is a more general term that can also be used to talk about
torts and insurance claims. Reparations is the more specific term that refers to
collective repair after an injustice. Furthermore, it is the term that is used in the

contemporary discourse about repairing social injustices. Thus, I use the term
reparations rather than corrective justice.
PRO Reparations:
Contention #1: Its morally right. Its more than fair. Reparations are needed to
honor the many lives, families, and fortunes lost so the the US. Could grow.
Even if the injustice happened in the past, the effects are still felt, and our
guilt doesnt go away.
3 different moral justifications moral debt, material disadvantage,
unjust enrichment
Samuel Williams, Phd Philosophy, 2011, FROMOPPRESSIONTODEMOCRACY:AN
ARGUMENTFORREPARATIONSFORAFRICANAMERICANSFROMADISCOURSE
ETHICSPERSPECTIVEhttp://etd.lib.msu.edu/islandora/object/etd%3A1110/datastream/OBJ/view DOA: 6-27-15
All the moral justifications for reparations share one important attribute. They all
have a concern for correcting an offense against a previous just state of affairs.
However, they diverge in their strategies for justification. The moral debt basis is
premised on an unsatisfied moral slight that ought to be rectified. The material
disadvantage basis concentrates on property injustice that must be repaired. And,
unjust enrichment basis is predicated on material advantage that benefactors of
the oppression enjoy that must be returned.
The impact of this reasoning is that more people would feel less
hopeless in our country, and anger, suicides, and crime would drop.
Gaining status and respect in the eyes of an authority boosts selfesteem, according national societies like Points of Light
Authoritative social recognition by a community improves self-esteem , employability,
especially for people on the margins of the labor market.
This in turn links to benefits in society for all since hopelessness and low self esteem
are the biggest underlying causes for anger, depression, suicide, and violent
abuse and crime, these would diminish more and more every year, as recognized
by most crime and mental health studies, especially one from The Police Executive
Research Forum that asked all police chiefs from across the country between 2009-2011
about the key causes of crime and violence and they cited 74% was caused by issues of
Economy / poverty / unemployment and. Impulsive violence / disrespect issues 74 %
http://www.policeforum.org/library/critical-issues-in-policing-series/VCrime&EconomyI.pdf

Contention #2: USFG reparations would solve Reparations force us to

recognize the limits of our democracy and be ready to make it better.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic, May, 2014 The Case for Reparations,
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/05/the-case-for-reparations/361631/ DOA: 6-27-14

We invoke the words of Jefferson and Lincoln because they say something about
our legacy and our traditions. We do this because we recognize our links to the past
at least when they flatter us. But black history does not flatter American democracy; it
chastens it. The popular mocking of reparations as a harebrained scheme authored by

wild-eyed lefties and intellectually unserious black nationalists is fear masquerading

as laughter. Black nationalists have always perceived something unmentionable about America
that integrationists dare not acknowledgethat white supremacy is not merely the work of
hotheaded demagogues, or a matter of false consciousness, but a force so
fundamental to America that it is difficult to imagine the country without it. And so we
must imagine a new country. Reparationsby which I mean the full acceptance of our
collective biography and its consequencesis the price we must pay to see ourselves
squarely. The recovering alcoholic may well have to live with his illness for the rest of
his life. But at least he is not living a drunken lie. Reparations beckons us to reject the
intoxication of hubris and see America as it isthe work of fallible humans.

CON
We say it is untrue: The USFG ought to pay reparations to African Americans.
TWO WRONGS dont make a right. Dont try to fix one injustice with another!
FRAMEWORK: The Con side does not have to prove that slavery and later years
of racism were not harmful and horrible. We only need to show that reparations
do not change any of that. Worse, it masks the REAL solutions. It makes us think
we have really moved away from racism so the USFG stops going after the real
root causes of racism and get to the real solutions.
Definitions:
Reparations is about collective repair of an injustice
Samuel Williams, Phd Philosophy, 2011, FROMOPPRESSIONTODEMOCRACY:AN
ARGUMENTFORREPARATIONSFORAFRICANAMERICANSFROMADISCOURSE
ETHICSPERSPECTIVEhttp://etd.lib.msu.edu/islandora/object/etd%3A1110/datastream/OBJ/view DOA: 6-27-15
Here, one might have a question as to why and how I distinguish corrective justice
from reparations. I use reparations rather than corrective justice because of the use
of the term reparations in the current discourse of repairing social relationships. Both
of these terms invoke the idea of returning an unjust social relationship to a just one. The
similarity of the terms follows from the similarity of their root terms. In common usage of
the terms to correct means to alter a situation, circumstance, technique or tool to its
desired state (eliminate mistakes). On the other hand to repair means to return a
situation to its original condition. Corrective justice is a more general term that can
also be used to talk about torts and insurance claims. Reparations is the more specific
term that refers to collective repair after an injustice. Furthermore, it is the term that is
used in the contemporary discourse about repairing social injustices. Thus, I use the term
reparations rather than corrective justice.

Contention #1: More unfairness will be stirred up when much benefits have
already been given

Constitutional Rights Foundation, Reparations for Slavery? http://www.crf-usa.org/brown-v-board-50thanniversary/reparations-for-slavery-reading.html DOA: 6-26-15

Federalandstategovernmentshavealreadyspentbillionsofdollarsonsocialprogramssuchaswelfare,subsidizedhousing,health
care,employmentdevelopment,affirmativeaction,andeducation.TheseprogramshavebenefittedAfricanAmericans.

AfricanAmericans,particularlytheyoung,needtoovercometheirproblemsthroughtheirowneffortsandnotdependon
moregovernmenthandoutsandbenefits.

Anyreparationplanwouldleadtounfairnessandhugeadministrativecosts.Whowouldreceivereparations?Descendantsof
slaves?Allblacks?WouldwelloffAfricanAmericansreceivepayments?Ifafundweresetup,whowouldadministerit?
Wouldthoseunhappywiththeplancallforevenmorereparationsorfilelawsuits?

Contention #2:
reparations.

Unfair to other groups also hurt but not getting

Christian Science Monitor

in 2015 that Center for Native American Youth reported that
teen suicide rates are doubling each year, and suicide, depression, and alcoholism
are up to 40% on some reservations, claiming that USFG compensations of the
current reservation system failed them.
Do we want this to happen to other groups? The USFG thinks they have
solved their unfairness only to make things worse, andthe most tragic impact
let the US off the hook, allowing citizens to feel guilt-free, and DECREASE the
attention we pay to seriously wronged and suffering cultural groups.