Rethinking the issue of reparations for Black Americans

Bibliographic Data

ID21504162
AuthorsAudrey R Chapman (0000-0001-9269-3147, Department of Public Health Sciences University of Connecticut Medical School Farmington Connecticut USA, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume36
Issue3
Pages235-242
Publication date2022-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBioethics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0269-9702 • E-ISSN: 1467-8519
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/bioe.12954
PMID34517425
OpenAlexW3201499606
LanguageEN
Citations received3

The differential impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on communities of color in the United States along with the civil unrest taking place in 2020 in response to the killing of unarmed Black men and women by the police have increased awareness of the structural racism pervading US society. These developments have reraised the issue of reparations for Black Americans, usually proposed in the context of providing financial compensation for the injustices of slavery to the descendants of those who were enslaved. This paper will discuss the systematic racial inequality and structural racism in US society that have significantly disadvantaged racial and ethnic minorities while giving advantages to white Americans, which most recently have resulted in significantly higher mortality and morbidity among Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans during the pandemic. The paper will conceptualize reparations within the context of theories of reparative justice. It will also consider whether reparations are owed, and if so, by whom, to whom, and in what form. The final section will offer a proposal for collective reparations to the Black community and other people of color

Criminology · Disadvantaged · Economic Justice · Ethnic group · Political science · Politics · Racism · Sociology · Unrest · Disaster Management and Resilience · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · History · Law · Migration, Health and Trauma

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