Racial education needed about reparations

Many people, I fear, need to be educated on the true condition of black people in America.\nIn recent news, reparations for black Americans have been discussed. A topic that also came under discussion was why they are considered unnecessary by some people in the first place.\n But the idea of reparations is just a small part of a much bigger issue. In the cases of the Jewish and other Holocaust victims, and in the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, reparations were paid. In both cases, the offending countries made such atrocious actions legal, either by decree or by example of leadership. Arguments against reparations for black Americans due to the fact that slavery was legal at the time is without merit.\nAnother argument made was that the majority of the Holocaust survivors were still alive at the time of payment. This is also not true. Many children and grandchildren of those killed in the Holocaust received the reparations in lieu of their ancestors.\nWelfare and other public assistance is not a form of reparations. Originally it was intended solely for orphans and war widows. The history behind welfare is rooted in the New Deal social reforms instituted under President Franklin Roosevelt. \nWelfare has never been a handout system for black people. Racial preference in government contracts and other areas is much less effective than widely thought. \nAnd then there is the fact that despite social changes, Black people are still a minority group. Black people make up between 20-23 percent of the nation's population, yet here at IU, they are four percent of the student body. There are more students here from outside the country than there are black Americans at this school. In a recent study, black people, no matter what their income level or professional status, were found to be twice as likely to be denied loans as white people. At the recent Academy Awards, it took Halle Berry taking off all her clothes (A sex scene in "Monster's Ball" with Billy Bob Thornton, of all people) to finally get an Oscar.\nThere is no form of payment that could ever make amends for over 300 years of physical, psychological torture, but reparations would be a good start on a long road to reconciliation. Reparations will make this generation of Americans face the accountability of the past, and set a precedent for the future generations to look to and follow on the road to true racial harmony. America as a whole has benefited economically from slavery. The forced labor of black people built the financial rock that both you and I stand on in this nation, and here at IU.\nWe must remember though, (and all finance and political science specialists will attest to this) that there is no such thing as a free lunch. \nBecause America's economy benefited from the work of black Americans, it is time for America to pay its bills. And these bills are way past due.