Gwinnett Opinions: READERS RESPOND Home Edition

• Published in: The Atlanta journal-constitution (2001)
• Main Author: DANIEL MARTIN, RAYMOND WINBUSH, VIVIANNE HARDY TOWNES, HOWARD WILLIAMS, DOROTHY RICHARD
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Atlanta, Ga Atlanta Journal Constitution, LLC 26.12.2004
• ISSN: 1539-7459

I want to correct your misperception of reparations for the enslavement of Africans in America. Why falsely manufacture an "either-or" choice (Native American Indians or African Americans) rather than recognize that both groups deserve reparations? ["If reparations are due, start with Native Americans," Dec. 14, Gwinnett, AJC] Japanese-Americans, survivors of the Holocaust and others have rightly received reparations. There are no choices in whether Africans in America deserve reparations; rather, it is determining whether this nation's legacy of slavery will be at last acknowledged, apologized for and its descendants compensated as were Japanese and some indigenous Americans who were victims of horrific crimes against humanity. In short, it is not either/or, it is both/and. The U.S. government has paid reparations to Japanese-Americans and partial reparations to Native Americans. It consistently and continually has reneged on its promise to pay to African-Americans. Ability to pay? If the "world's only superpower" can ante up another $80 billion in 2005 to continue the assault in Iraq, it can and should certainly make payment to all whom it has injured.