Redress for Historical Injustices in the United States

An exceptional resource, this comprehensive reader brings together primary and secondary documents related to the reparations movement in the United States. While the movement is united in its goal of "repairing" the injustices to African Americans that have followed from the long history of slavery and Jim Crow, this anthology reveals the range of opinions as to the form that repair might take. Some advocates of redress call for apologies; others for official acknowledgment of wrongdoing; and still others for material reparations: monetary compensation, government investment in disenfranchised communities, the restitution of lost property and rights. By activists and scholars of law, political science, African American studies, philosophy, economics, and history, the twenty-six essays include both previously published articles and pieces written specifically for this volume. Some essays theorize the historical and legal bases of claims for redress; some examine the history, strengths, and limitations of the reparations movement; and some explore its relation to human rights and social justice movements abroad. Others evaluate the movement's primary strategies - legislation, litigation, and mobilization. While all of the contributors support the campaign for redress in one way or another, many of them engage with arguments against reparations. Among the forty-seven primary documents included in the volume are federal, state, and municipal acts and resolutions; declarations and statements from organizations including the Black Panther Party and the NAACP; legal briefs and opinions; and findings and directives related to efforts to make amends, such as the Mandate for the Greensboro, North Carolina, Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Redress for Historical Injustices in the United States is a thorough assessment of the past, present, and future of the modern reparations movement.