Families: Designing a Plan of Repair

Traditional philanthropy is not an appropriate model for redress.

Yes

Think about it - the millions of dollars amassed by America's wealthiest families have accrued through intergenerational wealth transfer - a tradition, begun during the slavery era, African Americans have been barred from achieving thanks to de jure segregation, red-lining practices and the resulting inability to acquire real estate.  An average African American family's net worth is currently just 1/10th that of an average white family's net worth.

Giving USA estimates that charitable donations totaled $427.1BB in 2018. If each citizen shifted even 1% of their annual charitable donations, redefining them instead as reparations, $4.2BB could be raised for reparations in one year. If a national reparations fund were created, the trillions of dollars that are owed to African Americans could be repatriated in just a few generations. Social change may not ultimately be this simple, yet It IS possible to make a difference.

How will you develop your family's plan of repair?

 

It's easy to become overwhelmed by the level of harm our white families have perpetrated against African Americans over the centuries.  How can we determine the scale of harm? How can we unwind specific harms?  Where should we start?

If you have committed yourself to the path of repair, but are not sure how to develop a specific plan, begin here.  Then, follow your heart.

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“Justice requires not only the ceasing and desisting of injustice but also requires either punishment or reparation for injuries and damages inflicted for prior wrongdoing. The essence of justice is the redistribution of gains earned through the perpetration of injustice."

Amos Wilson

Background Information

A Step by Step Guide

Applying Our Agency, Time and Resources toward Repair

Transitioning from Philanthropy to Repair

How Are Others Engaging in Direct Repair?

"Now That I Know, What Can I Do?" - a conversation with Tina Slaughter of Coming Together Virginia

and reparationists Lotte Lieb Dula, Sarah Eisner, Allison Thomas and Phoebe Kilby.