One to Read Slowly – Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations”

I received my physical copy of The Atlantic today.

I knew the article was coming.

It is accompanied by many stark photographs.

I intend to read it slowly…

Without comment, here are the “introductory words to the piece,”

The opening paragraph:

American prosperity was built on two and a half centuries of slavery, a deep wound that has never been healed or fully atoned for – and that has been deepened by years of discrimination, segregation, and racist housing policies that persist to his day. Until America reckons with the moral debt it has accrued – to generations of black Americans, it will fail to live up to its own ideals.

And the words from the cover:

250 years of slavery.
90 years of Jim Crow.
60 years of separate but equal.
35 years of state-sanctioned redlining.
Until we reckon with the compounding moral debts of our ancestors, American will never be whole.

And, from the last section, and the last sentence of the article:

Plunder in the past made plunder in the present efficient. In 2009, half the properties in Baltimore whose owners had been granted loans by Wells Fargo between 2005 and 2008 were vacant; 71 percent of these properties were in predominantly black neighborhoods.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Case for Reparations, The Atlantic, June, 2014

May I suggest that you read the article.

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It’s now available to read on-line.  Click here for The Case for Reparations.

(Here’s a link to a “teaser” post from Mr. Coates:  Coming Soon: Why Reparations Make Sense-A preview of the June 2014 cover story).