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By COLLEEN McCARTHY
Associate News Editor
After profiting from the enslavement of black people for nearly 350 years, the U.S. government owes reparations to black people, said Randall Robinson, author of "The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks," in lecture at Saint Mary's Monday night.
"There are economic gaps that have existed between blacks and whites since the Emancipation Proclamation," said Robinson, who called slavery one of the great crimes ever committed against humanity. He cited other nations, such as Germany, who have offered apologies to people victimized by their government. Since the Luxembourg Agreement of 1952, Germany has compensated Jewish people for their treatment during World War II, Robinson said.
"We have urged other countries to do what the U.S. has not done," he said. "No country can have biracialism and biculturalism until it is courageous enough to come to terms with itself. We cannot bury the past."
Robinson said he believes that the two major consequences slavery has imposed on African-Americans have been psychic and economic.
In the psychic aspect, black people have had their history erased by whites, he said. "Blacks may be the only people who do not have a sight line to their history," he said. "We know nothing about Africa in its glorious antiquity. But that was done on purpose, to cut people off from their own history."
The U.S. has not acknowledged blacks' presence in American history, and this is evident in Washington, D.C., said Robinson. "My daughter and I were walking on the Mall in Washington and we counted only six black people among the thousands who were there on a summer day," said Robinson. "There were only six blacks there because there is nothing there that has anything to do with them.
"You walk up the Mall and see the Holocaust museum, which is there, and rightly so, to commemorate what was done to the Jewish people during World War II, and you see the sight where a museum will be built honoring native Americans," he said. "But no where will you find a monument, brick, or word that commemorates the American Holocaust that ran for 346 years."
Robinson added that although it was slaves who helped build the U.S. Capitol building, there is no acknowledgement of their work.
"The only black in the Capitol is a small bust of Martin Luther King," said Robinson. "No Douglas, no Truth, no Tubmann. No blacks at all. So much of Washington was built by slaves who were never paid, nor remembered. America did all it could to bury that past."
Economic ramifications of slavery continue to impact black people today,
said Robinson.
According to Robinson, blacks have lost $80 to $90 billion per generation as a result of slavery. In addition, the amount of unpaid wages attributed to slavery is estimated at around $1.4 trillion.
"It is no accident that one community is rich and another is poor," said Robinson. "However, what we must remember is that blacks are behind not because they did something wrong or inadequate but because of something [slavery] that was done to them a very long time ago."
Robinson does not recommend paying reparations in cash. Rather, he suggested using the money for funding for education programs and economic development programs.
U.S. Representative John Conyers has collaborated with Robinson to work toward a commission to look into reparation payments and from this commission, specific programs could be established to benefit blacks.
"When we talk about reparations, we're not talking about affirmative action or gifts, we're talking about what we are owed," said Robinson. "I suggest reparations when paid be need based."
His book has stirred controversy and many have asked him, "I didn't own slaves, so why should I be held at fault?" said Robinson.
"Nobody living is personally culpable but the fact is that when the government commits great crimes against humanity, those crimes survive beyond the lives of those not living," he said.
The issue of using money for reparations is not what disturbs people, said Robinson.
"It's not the money that is the issue. We waste so much money on military toys," he said. "The issue is the disinclination of the country to talk about slavery.
"It is the most steadfast denial. Americans and even the black community runs from talking about slavery because the past is so painful and we don't want to have to confront it."
By coming to terms with slavery, America can become a stronger nation, said Robinson.
"A long time ago, America did an awful disservice and crime against humanity and it has to come to terms with this," he said. "It will make the U.S. a stronger country and close gaps between blacks and whites. We have to come to terms with the idea that you can't have a future if you fear looking at your past."
All News Stories for Wednesday, February 16, 2000
