Opinion: Dear Kamala Harris -- Please Take Action

By Anonymous - A message from all BIPOC students (2021 Contest Submission)

A Letter to Vice President Kamala Harris:

As I watched your historic victory speech last month, a single line resonated with me. You told us, “Every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.” In this statement, you touched young girls, especially minorities, who desire to live up to your newfound legacy. Here, we see the importance of representation in the media and politics, especially for minorities. Even in America, which is supposedly “equal” and “free,” we reap the consequences of systemic oppression and racism rooted in slavery, which is why it was such a groundbreaking event that you were elected as our nation’s next vice president. Until the day that this is a norm and not an anomaly, change needs to be made. As Ta Nehisi Coates explained in his case for reparations, black Americans suffer from the same inequality that they did a century ago; by no means does equality under law translate to equality of opportunity. As long as systemic oppression is ignored by the government itself, the oppression of the status quo will persist. Most shockingly, in light of recent events, the equality desired by the Black Lives Matter movement has somehow become a political issue as opposed to one of human rights. When protests spurred by cases of police brutality from George Floyd to Breonna Taylor result in even more racism, the systemic oppression of the American government is highlighted along with a social desire for government action. Thus, as a nation, our efforts to move to equality have been essentially nonexistent and perhaps backward as the administration continues to turn a blind eye to the societal calls for change.

As the next vice president, I implore you to look into reparations-- a way to make amends to those who were wronged by slavery and racial discrimination. Overall, at first glance, reparations serve as an ending to the American government’s failure to provide retribution for those who have suffered at the hands of systemic racism. In the past, reparations have been used by governments to serve as an end to government inaction and invincibility. It is a way for them to admit that they have made a mistake. The poem, “A Draft of a Reparations Agreement” by Dan Pagis describes the types of reparations necessary for the Jewish community after the Holocaust-- an event rooted in antisemitism that the community still faces in the present day. Pagis writes, “Everything will be returned to its place… you will have your lives back… nothing is too late.” Here, he outlines the impact of reparations and the purpose they have. They serve as a form of closure - an ending - for the repercussions of the Holocaust and give the Jewish community “their lives back,” suggesting that without reparations, it has been difficult for the community to recover. Furthermore, regardless of how long ago the Holocaust was, Pagis continues that reparations will always be an option and that it is never too late for a government to admit to and take responsibility for wrongdoings. Even over 150 years after slavery was legally abolished, the amount of time that has passed is not an excuse for perpetuated inaction. While the Holocaust differs greatly from slavery in America, both represent atrocities that governments were responsible for perpetuating. Therefore, the burden for change and reparations lies on you as a part of our administration, Vice President-Elect Harris. Especially as a nation that prides itself on freedom and liberty for all, we fail to live up to these values unless action is taken.

Reparations as an end to government inaction, oppression, and a mindset of American exceptionalism assume that government compensation is sufficient in rectifying systemic racism as a whole. There are a multitude of circumstances that call for reparations, but a specific example I would like to introduce to you is the story of Clyde Ross. Clyde suffered at the hands of systemic oppression and faced economic and social consequences that impacted his life forever. Ta Nehisi Coates outlines Clyde’s story in The Case for Reparations. Throughout his life as a black man living in the south, Clyde lived in constant fear of lynchings, unfair tax laws, and the loss of his property. The jarringly unfair circumstances that he had been handed resulted in a need for money, not because he wasn’t hardworking, but because his race had placed his livelihood in constant jeopardy. Clyde worked exponentially harder for a fraction of what a white man would have gotten. In Clyde’s situation, reparations from the government in the form of financial assistance would have facilitated his life immensely. Rather than working beyond his physical capacity and scraping together money to pay rent each month due to the imminent threat of eviction, reparations would have eased the burden of systemic racism and its consequences on his life. Yet are these reparations sufficient in ensuring that this doesn’t happen again? That the system is changed? The clear answer is no. Regardless of the minuscule economic impact that reparations would have on Clyde’s life as an individual, monetary compensation does nothing to address the systemic issues that afflicted his life in the first place. Redlining and inherent discrimination would persist, even with reparations, suggesting that reparations may not serve as an ending to the endeavors of African Americans in the United States.

Indeed, government reparations fail to address systemic issues, but they serve as a bare minimum for those who have suffered, making them necessary. America prides itself on the values outlined in the Declaration of Independence that we claim to extend to all Americans. Langston Hughes touches upon these values in his poem “Let America be America again.” He writes, “O, let my land be a land where Liberty is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, but opportunity is real… equality is in the air we breathe.” Hughes brings light to liberty and equality in America and characterizes them as values that are idealized but not upheld. In fact, America was founded upon such values, which are inspired by English philosophers from the 18th century. As someone who went to law school and works in government, I am sure you are familiar with the principles of John Locke, the “father of liberalism.” Due to the heavy weight that our founding fathers placed on his theories, we must also consider his views on reparations in his second treatise of government: “he who hath received any damage, has a particular right to seek reparation.” Our natural rights of life, liberty, and property are derived from Locke’s work, thus when he continues that reparations are a basic human right, it is a call for our administration to open its eyes. To “Let America be America again,” what Locke considers to be human rights must be extended. Just as life, liberty, and property serve as the bare necessities of human life, reparations serve as a bare minimum and a basic right for those who have lived through systemic oppression.

America cannot deny black people another natural right.

While reparations serve as an end to government inaction, to a larger extent, they serve as a beginning to the government support of systemic and institutional change that is long overdue in American society. Rather than focusing on the economic benefits of reparations, their failure to bring systemic change, and the fact that they do the bare minimum, the symbolic value of reparations must be considered. Ultimately, reparations force the government to take a stance on its past actions, leading to them being transformative. Erik Yamamoto writes about this “transformative power” of reparations in his essay, Radical Reparations. He explains that reparations “can help change material conditions of group life and send political messages about societal commitment to principles of equality… reparations target substantive barriers to liberty and equality.” The main impact of reparations lies in the fact that when governments do take a stance, we finally begin to target barriers to American values and freedoms. By providing reparations, the government automatically acknowledges the struggles of black people in America, raising further awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement and the desire for societal change. Yamamoto continues, “reparations condemn exploitation and adopt a vision of a more just world.” Above all, reparations are a way for the government to admit that injustices were committed, which acknowledges the systemic and institutionalized racism that many ignore. If we truly want to move to an equal and just state for our nation, reparations are a beginning, provided that our administration is willing to continue pushing for systemic change.

Being one of the young girls that you spoke to in your victory speech, I too see America as a “country of possibilities.” However, these possibilities are limited in scope and expand only to the privileged: a factor wrongly decided by the color of one’s skin. With reparations, we can change this narrative and begin to make amends for centuries of wrongdoings. Today, you stand as a figure of representation for minority communities and a source of empowerment. With reparations, we can make it so that you aren’t the anomaly, but the regularity.

Sincerely,

Your American BIPOC Students

Works Cited

Coates, Story by Ta-Nehisi. “The Case for Reparations.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 16 June 2020, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/.

Pagis, Dan. “A Draft of a Reparations Agreement.”

Locke, J. (1980). Second treatise of government (C. B. Macpherson, Ed.). Hackett Publishing.

Eric K. Yamamoto, Racial Reparations: Japanese American Redress and African American Claims, 19 B.C. Third World L.J. 477 (1998)

Langston Hughes, “Let America be America Again” From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Copyright © 1994 the Estate of Langston Hughes.