Reparations Would Only Exacerbate Racial Injustices

Last week leftists in Congress reintroduced the Reparations Now resolution, demanding that the federal government provide financial restitution “to rectify ongoing harms resulting from violations, by the Federal Government, of Black people’s human right to self-determination and freedom from discrimination.”

Ambassadors with the Project 21 black leadership network strongly oppose this move, arguing that race-based reparations wouldn’t solve anything, and would actually make our nation’s problems worse.

Eric Wallace

Project 21 Ambassador Eric Wallace, Ph.D.:

While the emotional and historical appeal of reparations is understandable given the real and painful injustices inflicted upon black Americans before their emancipation, the proposal to allocate trillions of dollars in restitution now raises serious questions about fiscal responsibility, practicality and fairness to today’s taxpayers, many of whom had no ancestral involvement in slavery.

The focus on reparations also risks reducing complex, deeply-rooted societal issues to a transactional remedy rather than addressing the underlying moral and cultural dynamics that continue to hinder black communities.

A more constructive and unifying approach would prioritize strengthening the black family, improving access to quality education, promoting economic opportunity through entrepreneurship and reducing government dependency. These solutions tackle the root causes of generational poverty and disempowerment without dividing Americans along racial lines or perpetuating victimhood narratives.

Horace Cooper

Project 21 Chairman Horace Cooper:

The left keeps trying to ride this tired hobby horse.  Instead of taking constructive steps to aid black Americans by supporting “No Tax on Tips” or supporting a deduction for buying a car, the left pushes for completely unrealistic measures that have no chance for success.

Black Americans are awakening to the truth: The left doesn’t care that this won’t succeed; instead, it seeks only to divide Americans by race in a vain hope to stay in power.

Progressives aren’t concerned about the real issues that black Americans, like other Americans, face — providing for their families and pursuing the American Dream.

Hey lefties, get serious and join the effort to “Make America Great Again.” In the process, blacks will prosper.

April Chapman

Project 21 Ambassador April Chapman:

While reparations proponents argue that black Americans are owed compensation for slavery and its generational effects, few acknowledge that this country did make a formal attempt at redress through legislation like the Homestead Acts of 1862 and 1866. These federal laws offered land—arguably the most valuable form of capital at the time—to freed slaves and loyal citizens, including up to 160 acres for those willing to develop and cultivate the land for five years. It wasn’t a handout; it was an opportunity to build generational wealth through hard work and perseverance. Many took advantage of it, including some black Americans who went on to found entire towns. But others refused the opportunity, clinging instead to the familiarity of dependence or succumbing to fear. It’s time we admit that not all barriers were external—some were internal, rooted in reluctance to break from a master-servant mindset. This pathology was clearly seen then, and it’s seen today, reflective of the master-slave relationship that the Left continues to cultivate within the black community.

Furthermore, if leftists want to keep flogging reparations as a campaign initiative, they might want to take a hard look at their own party’s historical role in obstructing black advancement. It was their party that actively opposed the very Reconstruction policies—like the Southern Homestead Act of 1866—introduced by Republicans to help freedmen become landowners. Southern Democrats resisted at every turn, implementing Black Codes, fostering white supremacist terror through the KKK, and undermining efforts by the Freedmen’s Bureau. If reparations are to be paid, perhaps they should start by passing the plate within their own political house.

Jovani Patterson

Project 21 Ambassador Jovani Patterson:

The greatest reparation the black community needs isn’t a government check, it’s the reparation of the family.

Yes, slavery destroyed generations. Yes, Jim Crow left deep scars. But the most devastating wound we’ve carried into the 21st century is the breakdown of the black family — a wound we keep ignoring while perpetuating political theater dressed as justice.

Let me be clear: Without the restoration of the family unit, no amount of “reparations” will fix what’s broken.

It’s the family — not Congress — that passes down wealth. It’s the family that raises children with purpose, identity and discipline. It’s the family that creates stability, accountability and pride.

Instead of addressing our current family crisis, we’ve got politicians demanding trillions in slavery reparations. They pretend like fatherlessness isn’t the real pandemic in our community.

Linda Lee Tarver

Project 21 Ambassador Linda Lee Tarver:

Congresswoman Summer Lee of Pennsylvania reintroduced the ‘Reparations Now’ resolution but fails to recognize that her political predecessors’ contributions and policies contributed to slavery, Jim Crow and the current demise of our nation’s urban centers. Moreover, her colleagues have hypocritically embraced hollow and divisive initiatives like reparations to galvanize a small sect of supporters who are told by successful black lawmakers that they are victims.

We need only look at the current situation in South Africa, where it is reported that a small number of white farmers were killed in the implementation of the nation’s deadly affirmative action laws and new land expropriation. Trying to “right” a historical wrong comes with serious consequences.

Implementing good public policies, like those outlined in Project 21’s “Blueprint for a Better Deal for Black America,” will put black America on a path to success and usher in our golden age.

Priscilla Rahn

Project 21 Ambassador Priscilla Rahn:

While leftists wrap this resolution in the language of justice, it’s nothing more than a political stunt. Their real goal is to paint conservatives as racists and themselves as saviors. But history—and truth—tell a very different story.

Let’s be honest: Their party is the party of slavery, the KKK, Jim Crow, abortion, low expectations and government overreach in black communities. They fought against civil rights at every step until the political winds shifted. Now they want to pretend they’re the champions of racial justice? That’s not leadership. That’s hypocrisy.

Worse, they’re offering false hope to black Americans with a fantasy that would cost trillions of dollars our nation doesn’t have. Even if passed, how would it work? Who qualifies? Who pays? What happens to national unity when we divide Americans into payers and recipients based on race?

As a descendant of enslaved Africans, I reject this cynical ploy. We don’t need reparations; we need restoration — of strong families, good schools, safe neighborhoods and economic opportunity. What the black community needs is a fair shot—one we’re still fighting for because of government interference, not in spite of it.

Here’s what we should be talking about instead: school choice, support for black-owned businesses, criminal justice reform, workforce development and restoring fatherhood and faith.

Brandon Brice

Project 21 Ambassador Brandon Brice:

Too often, the conversation about reparations is only about adding up the financial damage over centuries and the government cutting a check to make amends. But that approach doesn’t necessarily restore; it’s just a quick reimbursement. Let’s be honest: We all saw what happened with the stimulus relief checks — money came in, money went out. Communities that were already negatively impacted by COVID remained in the same position, despite their checks from the federal government.

Legislative solutions must be about wealth building, not direct compensation. We must work toward strengthening small businesses, schools, minority-owned and -operated banks, inner-city hospitals, and supermarkets that serve fresh produce.

Restoring urban institutions is how we start rebuilding this thing we call “community” and creating long-term generational wealth.

Kevin McGary

Project 21 Ambassador Kevin McGary:

Calls for reparations often lack sincerity and historical precision, undermining their legitimacy. If reparations are to be taken seriously, they must be directed at the parties truly responsible for the systemic oppression of black Americans.

While many Americans today are asked to bear guilt collectively, the reality is that not all were complicit. The Civil War cost over 700,000 lives, many of whom died fighting to abolish slavery. Families who sacrificed ancestors for the cause of freedom should not now be asked to pay again. True justice requires specificity: Reparations should come from those who perpetuated the system, not from a blanket tax on the nation.

Ayesha Kreutz

Project 21 Ambassador Ayesha Kreutz:

Reparations at face value are impossible to allocate. I am a descendent of slaves and a descendent of slave masters. Do I get reparations?

My skin is black; my ancestry is purely American. I live in a country that has repented for its sins and whose sins were paid for by blood in the Civil War.

This is all smoke and mirrors meant to further divide and, as Malcom X once said, to use blacks as “political footballs.”

 

Terris Todd

Project 21 Director Terris Todd:

I am truly grateful that the vast majority of Americans continue to move forward with making positive changes within their own lives, despite these attempts to keep us shackled to a dark past that none of us have experienced personally.

Instead of exhausting efforts that seem to be getting us nowhere, how about providing us with legislation that gives us hope for a future guaranteed to not repeat our past mistakes? While we were yet in sin, Christ died for us all!