It is important for any discussion of reparations to include the ongoing and lasting impact of the legacy of slavery, but we cannot allow the conversation to be derailed by those who seek to whittle it down to the simple act of the enslavement of Black people.

Those people are either oblivious, willfully obtuse or flat-out disregarding the lasting impact the enslavement of Black people in America has left behind.

It’s not just about people being treated like chattel. It’s about the ways in which America has continued to do its best to subjugate an entire group of people who played one of the biggest roles in the building of this “great nation.”

For Black People, Reparations Are About More Than Slavery