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From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century
Racism and discrimination have choked economic opportunity for African Americans at nearly every turn. At several historic moments, the trajectory of racial inequality could have been altered dramatically. Perhaps no moment was more opportune than the early days of Reconstruction, when the U.S. government temporarily implemented a major redistribution of land from former slaveholders to the newly emancipated enslaved. But neither Reconstruction nor the New Deal nor the civil rights struggle led to an economically just and fair nation. Today, systematic inequality persists in the form of housing discrimination, unequal education, police brutality, mass incarceration, employment discrimination, and massive wealth and opportunity gaps. Economic data indicates that for every dollar the average white household holds in wealth the average black household possesses a mere ten cents.
In From Here to Equality , William Darity Jr. and A. Kirsten Mullen confront these injustices head-on and make the most comprehensive case to date for economic reparations for U.S. descendants of slavery. After opening the book with a stark assessment of the intergenerational effects of white supremacy on black economic well-being, Darity and Mullen look to both the past and the present to measure the inequalities borne of slavery. Using innovative methods that link monetary values to historical wrongs, they next assess the literal and figurative costs of justice denied in the 155 years since the end of the Civil War. Finally, Darity and Mullen offer a detailed roadmap for an effective reparations program, including a substantial payment to each documented U.S. black descendant of slavery. Taken individually, any one of the three eras of injustice outlined by Darity and Mullen--slavery, Jim Crow, and modern-day discrimination--makes a powerful case for black reparations. Taken collectively, they are impossible to ignore.
In From Here to Equality , William Darity Jr. and A. Kirsten Mullen confront these injustices head-on and make the most comprehensive case to date for economic reparations for U.S. descendants of slavery. After opening the book with a stark assessment of the intergenerational effects of white supremacy on black economic well-being, Darity and Mullen look to both the past and the present to measure the inequalities borne of slavery. Using innovative methods that link monetary values to historical wrongs, they next assess the literal and figurative costs of justice denied in the 155 years since the end of the Civil War. Finally, Darity and Mullen offer a detailed roadmap for an effective reparations program, including a substantial payment to each documented U.S. black descendant of slavery. Taken individually, any one of the three eras of injustice outlined by Darity and Mullen--slavery, Jim Crow, and modern-day discrimination--makes a powerful case for black reparations. Taken collectively, they are impossible to ignore.
424 pages, Hardcover
First published April 20, 2020
351 people are currently reading
3738 people want to read
About the author
William A. Darity Jr.
34 books38 followersWilliam A. "Sandy" Darity, Jr. is an American economist and researcher. He is currently the Arts and Sciences Professor of Public Policy in the Sanford School at Duke University and was the Cary C. Boshamer Professor of Economics and Sociology at the University of North Carolina. Darity was a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors in 1984, and from 1989 to 1990 was a fellow at the National Humanities Center. He is a former President of the Southern Economic Association.
His varied research interests have included economic stratification, the African diaspora, the economics of black reparations, group-based post traumatic stress disorder, and social and economic policy as they relate to race and ethnicity. [wikipedia]
His varied research interests have included economic stratification, the African diaspora, the economics of black reparations, group-based post traumatic stress disorder, and social and economic policy as they relate to race and ethnicity. [wikipedia]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
June 26, 2020
I can’t remember the name right now for our syndrome of reading our own history as something that had to unfold the way it did rather than as something we chose again and again, even though we could have chosen differently.
This book lays out 400 years of those choices we’ve made, and then it gets practical. I can’t remember a book I’ve read so simultaneously devastating and hopeful.
Reading it theologically, it also speaks powerfully to what justice, truth, reconciliation, peacemaking, and the possibility of forgiveness mean. Highly, highly recommended, if you couldn’t tell.
This book lays out 400 years of those choices we’ve made, and then it gets practical. I can’t remember a book I’ve read so simultaneously devastating and hopeful.
Reading it theologically, it also speaks powerfully to what justice, truth, reconciliation, peacemaking, and the possibility of forgiveness mean. Highly, highly recommended, if you couldn’t tell.
May 28, 2021
Dr. Darity presents an excellent, well-documented and interestingly written summary of United States history as it relates to African Americans - which in reality is how that history relates to white Americans. The two are inextricably linked and this link is made quite clear in this book. This book is not the first I have read on reparations, but I do consider it essential to an overall understanding of the movement. The history, the records and the data are all out there - and the amount of information is growing as more researchers dig deeper into the historical abuse of Black Americans.
At this point, ignorance of the truth only persists for two reasons: 1) because adult victims of the white supremacist brainwashing education affirmatively chose not to learn about the real dark, sordid and horrible history of their country, and 2) because people who make decisions about what students learn in school continue to willfully keep the students undereducated. These realities persist because calling upon white Americans to recognize and acknowledge this is to ask them to acknowledge a different kind of exceptionalism. The exceptional levels of kidnapping, murder, separating of children from parents, rape, torture, sadism, laziness, exploitation and systemic continuation of these abuses in many forms after the enslaved were emancipated - up to and including today. For every effort to turn back the horror story new forms of abuse were invented. The record is there for everyone to read. As Dr. Darity says, “A central theme of From Here to Equality is the sustained American failure to recognize the pernicious impact of white supremacy and the sustained American failure to adopt national policies that reverse the effects of white supremacy. At each point that the nation stood at a critical crossroads with respect to its racial future, it chose the wrong fork.” (page 10). He does an outstanding job of supporting the central theme of his work.
So, what do I know about United States History? Well I thought I knew, until I began really to read the books that no history class would have shown me. Well documented sources of the historical horror story that is the history of treatment of enslaved Africans and their descendants. It is impossible to really understand the pain one feels upon reflecting on this history - more so for the descendants of the victims of this history throughout the “Americas.” (see also Reparations for Slavery and the Slave Trade: A Transnational and Comparative History by Ana Lucia Araujo)
There are so many different lessons that come from Dr. Darity’s book. I will focus on one aspect and three examples. My focus will be on military history in the United States that is hidden from the History curriculum. I know it is hidden, because if it was not I wouldn’t have had to wait for Dr. Darity’s book to learn about it. First, I found out an astonishing fact about the American Revolution: white American’s tale of heroism. I sincerely doubt the following facts are even taught in the vast majority of today’s history classes: “At least 25 percent of the New England regiments were black. For two months—March to May 1775—free and enslaved blacks eagerly were recruited to serve in the war effort; however, fear of eventual slave revolts and concerns that the slaves who had fought for the country’s freedom would demand that they, too, be freed led their owners to push to make slaves ineligible for military service.” (page 103) Hiding this fact from students in the United States allows the existing power structure to perpetuate the myth that Black Americans sat idly by while white people did all the fighting.
It wasn’t until I read W.E.B. DuBois “Black Reconstruction in America: An Essay Toward a History of the Part Which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America,” that I understood the Reconstruction Era. It is an amazing historical account which I strongly recommend. Prof. Darity’s work reveals much about this era as well, but in line with some of what Prof. DuBois wrote about, Prof. Darity’s book also discusses Black American fighting in the American Civil War. He explains that, “Indeed, by 1863, in the aftermath of the Emancipation Proclamation, white northerners’ reluctance to serve in the war effort had become so pronounced that the black military contribution was essential to the Union’s survival. About 180,000 black soldiers participated in the U.S. Army—10 percent of all the soldiers who served the Union—during the Civil War. Approximately one-third of them lost their lives. Black determination in the pursuit of black freedom exacted a great toll. The termination of slavery was a consequence of great acts of sacrifice on the parts of black and white Americans. It was not simply a “gift” that white America bequeathed to black America.” (page 309). To me the key here is “essential to the Union’s survival.” Well in the first place, left to my High School and University textbooks I never would have known that any Black Americans served the Union cause - let alone to the extent which they did. Not until I saw the movie “Glory” was I aware that any had. The numbers, relative to the population of Black Americans at the time, show that their determination was the greatest, and the determining factor in the war. The myth that the “gift” was freedom given at no cost is smashed completely in this book.
In the aftermath of World War II, the United States passed the GI Bill - designed to help returning soldiers upon their return after the war. Except it was only implemented to benefit certain soldiers. I knew about the GI Bill, but my history teachers left out the sordid aspects of its unjust application. In spite of their service and sacrifice: “Perhaps most surprising and most important, the treatment of veterans after the war, despite the universal eligibility for the benefits offered by the GI Bill (supposed to give assistance to all returning soldiers, regardless of color), perpetuated the blatant racism that had marked the affairs of a still-segregated military service during the war itself. Southern members of Congress used occupational exclusions and took advantage of American federalism (the “state rights” principle) to ensure that their region’s racial order would not be disturbed by national policies. Benefits for veterans were administered locally and the GI Bill was adapted to “the southern way of life” by accommodating to segregation in higher education, to the job ceilings local officials imposed on returning black soldiers who came home from a segregated army, and to an unwillingness to offer loans to blacks even when they were insured by the federal government. Of the 3,229 GI Bill–guaranteed home, business, and farm loans made in 1947 in Mississippi, for example, only two were offered to black veterans.” (page 310). So my history lessons continue. For a much more detailed treatment of this tragedy I strongly recommend The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein. What Dr. Darity does, that Rothstein does not, is to set forth the economic argument for why this is yet another justifiable basis for Black Americans to be paid reparations.
One of the principal benefits of the book is the way the final chapter of the book lays out numerous alternatives for how reparations can be accomplished. Of all the books I have read on the subject I think he provides the most detailed account of the options, different approaches and the best means for accomplishing this in the United States. Critical to the success of any of these proposals Dr. Darity admits the need for a paradigm shift in the United States - the people need to change to a perspective of agreeing this is a just result. A paradigm shift occurs only when people are presented with overwhelming evidence. This is why the education system in the United States needs to teach the real history. Until then, there is unlikely to be a shift.
As a testament to the resilience of Black Americans, remember this: “The Civil War of 1861–65 ended slavery. It left us free, but it also left us homeless, penniless, ignorant, nameless and friendless. . . . Russia’s liberated serf was given three acres of land and agricultural implements with which to begin his career of liberty and independence. But to us no foot of land nor implement was given. We were turned loose to starvation, destitution and death. So desperate was our condition that some of our statesmen declared it useless to try to save us by legislation as we were doomed to extinction”.—Ida B. Wells, “Class Legislation,” 1893 (page 16) In spite of the prophecies of doom at the time, here we are and Black Americans are surviving and thriving. The circumstances are still adverse. Only reparations will begin to bring justice.
“The message of the Black Lives Matter movement encapsulates the racialized injuries of the 150 years since the end of legal American slavery. The movement’s message alerts us to the many ways in which black life has been devalued and unprotected so thoroughly in the United States.” (page 276)
Please read this book. Start the paradigm shift.
For further reading, in addition to those mentioned above, I recommend the following:
Britain’s Black Debt: : Reparations for Caribbean Slavery and Native Genocide By Prof. Sir Hilary Beckles
The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identity Politics by George Lipsitz
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentaiton on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington.
One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying our Democracy by Carol Anderson
Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America by Elliot Jaspin
At this point, ignorance of the truth only persists for two reasons: 1) because adult victims of the white supremacist brainwashing education affirmatively chose not to learn about the real dark, sordid and horrible history of their country, and 2) because people who make decisions about what students learn in school continue to willfully keep the students undereducated. These realities persist because calling upon white Americans to recognize and acknowledge this is to ask them to acknowledge a different kind of exceptionalism. The exceptional levels of kidnapping, murder, separating of children from parents, rape, torture, sadism, laziness, exploitation and systemic continuation of these abuses in many forms after the enslaved were emancipated - up to and including today. For every effort to turn back the horror story new forms of abuse were invented. The record is there for everyone to read. As Dr. Darity says, “A central theme of From Here to Equality is the sustained American failure to recognize the pernicious impact of white supremacy and the sustained American failure to adopt national policies that reverse the effects of white supremacy. At each point that the nation stood at a critical crossroads with respect to its racial future, it chose the wrong fork.” (page 10). He does an outstanding job of supporting the central theme of his work.
So, what do I know about United States History? Well I thought I knew, until I began really to read the books that no history class would have shown me. Well documented sources of the historical horror story that is the history of treatment of enslaved Africans and their descendants. It is impossible to really understand the pain one feels upon reflecting on this history - more so for the descendants of the victims of this history throughout the “Americas.” (see also Reparations for Slavery and the Slave Trade: A Transnational and Comparative History by Ana Lucia Araujo)
There are so many different lessons that come from Dr. Darity’s book. I will focus on one aspect and three examples. My focus will be on military history in the United States that is hidden from the History curriculum. I know it is hidden, because if it was not I wouldn’t have had to wait for Dr. Darity’s book to learn about it. First, I found out an astonishing fact about the American Revolution: white American’s tale of heroism. I sincerely doubt the following facts are even taught in the vast majority of today’s history classes: “At least 25 percent of the New England regiments were black. For two months—March to May 1775—free and enslaved blacks eagerly were recruited to serve in the war effort; however, fear of eventual slave revolts and concerns that the slaves who had fought for the country’s freedom would demand that they, too, be freed led their owners to push to make slaves ineligible for military service.” (page 103) Hiding this fact from students in the United States allows the existing power structure to perpetuate the myth that Black Americans sat idly by while white people did all the fighting.
It wasn’t until I read W.E.B. DuBois “Black Reconstruction in America: An Essay Toward a History of the Part Which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America,” that I understood the Reconstruction Era. It is an amazing historical account which I strongly recommend. Prof. Darity’s work reveals much about this era as well, but in line with some of what Prof. DuBois wrote about, Prof. Darity’s book also discusses Black American fighting in the American Civil War. He explains that, “Indeed, by 1863, in the aftermath of the Emancipation Proclamation, white northerners’ reluctance to serve in the war effort had become so pronounced that the black military contribution was essential to the Union’s survival. About 180,000 black soldiers participated in the U.S. Army—10 percent of all the soldiers who served the Union—during the Civil War. Approximately one-third of them lost their lives. Black determination in the pursuit of black freedom exacted a great toll. The termination of slavery was a consequence of great acts of sacrifice on the parts of black and white Americans. It was not simply a “gift” that white America bequeathed to black America.” (page 309). To me the key here is “essential to the Union’s survival.” Well in the first place, left to my High School and University textbooks I never would have known that any Black Americans served the Union cause - let alone to the extent which they did. Not until I saw the movie “Glory” was I aware that any had. The numbers, relative to the population of Black Americans at the time, show that their determination was the greatest, and the determining factor in the war. The myth that the “gift” was freedom given at no cost is smashed completely in this book.
In the aftermath of World War II, the United States passed the GI Bill - designed to help returning soldiers upon their return after the war. Except it was only implemented to benefit certain soldiers. I knew about the GI Bill, but my history teachers left out the sordid aspects of its unjust application. In spite of their service and sacrifice: “Perhaps most surprising and most important, the treatment of veterans after the war, despite the universal eligibility for the benefits offered by the GI Bill (supposed to give assistance to all returning soldiers, regardless of color), perpetuated the blatant racism that had marked the affairs of a still-segregated military service during the war itself. Southern members of Congress used occupational exclusions and took advantage of American federalism (the “state rights” principle) to ensure that their region’s racial order would not be disturbed by national policies. Benefits for veterans were administered locally and the GI Bill was adapted to “the southern way of life” by accommodating to segregation in higher education, to the job ceilings local officials imposed on returning black soldiers who came home from a segregated army, and to an unwillingness to offer loans to blacks even when they were insured by the federal government. Of the 3,229 GI Bill–guaranteed home, business, and farm loans made in 1947 in Mississippi, for example, only two were offered to black veterans.” (page 310). So my history lessons continue. For a much more detailed treatment of this tragedy I strongly recommend The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein. What Dr. Darity does, that Rothstein does not, is to set forth the economic argument for why this is yet another justifiable basis for Black Americans to be paid reparations.
One of the principal benefits of the book is the way the final chapter of the book lays out numerous alternatives for how reparations can be accomplished. Of all the books I have read on the subject I think he provides the most detailed account of the options, different approaches and the best means for accomplishing this in the United States. Critical to the success of any of these proposals Dr. Darity admits the need for a paradigm shift in the United States - the people need to change to a perspective of agreeing this is a just result. A paradigm shift occurs only when people are presented with overwhelming evidence. This is why the education system in the United States needs to teach the real history. Until then, there is unlikely to be a shift.
As a testament to the resilience of Black Americans, remember this: “The Civil War of 1861–65 ended slavery. It left us free, but it also left us homeless, penniless, ignorant, nameless and friendless. . . . Russia’s liberated serf was given three acres of land and agricultural implements with which to begin his career of liberty and independence. But to us no foot of land nor implement was given. We were turned loose to starvation, destitution and death. So desperate was our condition that some of our statesmen declared it useless to try to save us by legislation as we were doomed to extinction”.—Ida B. Wells, “Class Legislation,” 1893 (page 16) In spite of the prophecies of doom at the time, here we are and Black Americans are surviving and thriving. The circumstances are still adverse. Only reparations will begin to bring justice.
“The message of the Black Lives Matter movement encapsulates the racialized injuries of the 150 years since the end of legal American slavery. The movement’s message alerts us to the many ways in which black life has been devalued and unprotected so thoroughly in the United States.” (page 276)
Please read this book. Start the paradigm shift.
For further reading, in addition to those mentioned above, I recommend the following:
Britain’s Black Debt: : Reparations for Caribbean Slavery and Native Genocide By Prof. Sir Hilary Beckles
The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identity Politics by George Lipsitz
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentaiton on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington.
One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying our Democracy by Carol Anderson
Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America by Elliot Jaspin
August 14, 2020
This book clearly outlines why repartitions are owed to African Americans. I never thought of but now am in complete agreement
June 17, 2020
A very good book. Answers many of the most common questions around reparations. Balances focus on history while also looking forward to what reparations might look like in concrete terms.
August 13, 2020
This is not only the best researched and focused history of racism I've ever read, but more importantly it's a compelling and absolutely engaging argument for reparations. This book approaches the subject by looking not only at anecdotal evidence of racism in America, but also examines statistical data that makes any argument in opposition to reparations difficult to sustain. These authors anticipate all the major arguments against reparation and answer them with clear and well-reasoned rebuttals. The best part of this is the final chapter in which they lay out a clear, feasible plan for achieving reparations today, with thorough calculations of inflation and interest for the wealth inherited by plantation families, as well as calculations of what would amount to "40 acres and a mule" today. In all honesty, this book deserves the Nobel Prize. It really does what no previous study, to my knowledge, has done with the subject. The case they make leaves it difficult to continue to ignore and postpone reparations for descendants of enslaved African Americans.
June 28, 2020
Must read book for those interested in racial inequality in the US
The book is a super recount of the story of racial inequality in the US since colonial times. Importantly, the book emphasizes how institutions were shaped to preserve said inequality, and how the political choices at each juncture prevented the implementation of changes that set the black population in equal terms with respect to the rest of the society. It also shows how that institutional path was not the only one available, and that political choices at different points are to blame for the present inequality
The book is a super recount of the story of racial inequality in the US since colonial times. Importantly, the book emphasizes how institutions were shaped to preserve said inequality, and how the political choices at each juncture prevented the implementation of changes that set the black population in equal terms with respect to the rest of the society. It also shows how that institutional path was not the only one available, and that political choices at different points are to blame for the present inequality
July 13, 2020
Easy to read! You could read it! You should read it!
January 22, 2021
A necessary read.
I used 3 colors of pen and a highlighter.
made notes in the margins.
Attended a Zoom discussion group.
Sought out other articles re: reparations.
It was more about laying detailed case for reparations vs a how-to/what they should look like. Heavily footnoted.
I used 3 colors of pen and a highlighter.
made notes in the margins.
Attended a Zoom discussion group.
Sought out other articles re: reparations.
It was more about laying detailed case for reparations vs a how-to/what they should look like. Heavily footnoted.
March 26, 2025
Well researched with over 100 pages of notes and a 21 page index, a devastating racial summation of 4 periods of American history: slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, contemporary times. Darity and Mullen build and support many arguments for reparations with facts, data and documents. Their book clearly points out the many times: in colonial times, in antebellum times, during the Civil War, during Reconstruction ( “ the seven mystical years”), during Jim Crow, during the Sixties, during the Eighties, in contemporary times, when the US could have chosen the path of correction, of repair, of doing the right thing, of following its laws, of equality, and EVERY time chose the path of white supremacy and economic expediency. So many many wasted opportunities. This was a hard book to read. The section on Reconstruction, the “ seven mystical years”, was particularly upsetting because the Radical Republicans, tired of war, tired of resistance, tired of fighting racial haters, simply gave up on their hard fought principles and just let the racist tide take everything back. From there, it just got harder to read as the racial abuses came closer and closer into my own lifetime. There are several plans for reparations in this book as well as all the math one could ever need to calculate the bill. There are suggestions for how to pay for them. But as I sit here this morning reading the gubernatorial election results out of Virginia, results that reflect the fear of facing this true and awful American history, I fear as a country we will never get past it. “America is an identity that white people will protect at all costs” said Eddie Glaude Jr. in his recent book on James Baldwin. It saddens me that even this fine piece of scholarship won’t budge that identity. A must read
July 15, 2020
The history and ideas and rigor of this book are amazing and clear and well argued. I think I should probably go back and get the actual book rather than just listening. Overall this is a really important work.
Two small nits:
- the organization of the book is neither strictly chronological nor strictly conceptual, and so there's a lot of backward and forward referencing and some repetition.
- the whole point of the book is that reparations are due, not only because of slavery but also because of continuing violence and disparates of access. And then all of a sudden (if I understood the proposal correctly), the basis of the reparations payments would be 1860 / slavery and the eligible people would be only the descendants of slaves.
Overall the concrete proposal seems mostly reasonable and maybe we'll see some progress on it. I do wish there had been more exploration of the specifically political project of reparations (i.e. how to convince politicians and the public especially in areas with few blacks)
Two small nits:
- the organization of the book is neither strictly chronological nor strictly conceptual, and so there's a lot of backward and forward referencing and some repetition.
- the whole point of the book is that reparations are due, not only because of slavery but also because of continuing violence and disparates of access. And then all of a sudden (if I understood the proposal correctly), the basis of the reparations payments would be 1860 / slavery and the eligible people would be only the descendants of slaves.
Overall the concrete proposal seems mostly reasonable and maybe we'll see some progress on it. I do wish there had been more exploration of the specifically political project of reparations (i.e. how to convince politicians and the public especially in areas with few blacks)
September 2, 2020
Darity and Mullen offer such an incredible look into America’s history. While this book is a roadmap to reparations for American Descendants of Slavery (and many other atrocities), the vast majority of the book meticulously documents horror after horror to make the case. Hard at times to even imagine that all of this was taking place in the ‘land of the free,’ but it is simply the truth. It is a miracle that some families have managed to get where they are despite the plunder and downright evil of so many in this country that stood against them. I wish I could reach out and hug the men whose corpses we see in the lynching photos. Hug them and tell them that they are special, loved and worth it — also to tell them we will never stop fighting for real justice because it is very clear that the country owes reparations to the descendants of slavery, Jim Crow, convict leasing, state sanctioned lynchings etc etc. So much of where ADOS are now is a result of being locked out of capitalism and the American economy until very recently in generational terms.
November 25, 2020
I like to think I am relatively well read on the subject of race-related issues in U.S. culture, and consider myself, for a white guy, to be fairly well versed in the African American experience. However, this book was full of information that I was only half aware of, and it made many connections between its topic points that I had not thought of in this way before. Oddly enough, the weakest part of this book may be the how-to-make-reparations-work part (which is NOT that weak, really). It is the historic view, and its thesis that that history is still very relevant to today’s world, that make this a must read book, in addition to the need for some sort of serious reparations movement. I felt humbled at how much I was unaware of. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants America to finally attempt to face it past, and to reform its future. I certainly had my perspectives changed.
June 16, 2024
One of the most comprehensive books on the history of reparations that also builds a case for reparations for systemic white supremacy racism, greed, land lust that led to centuries of slavery, Jim Crow laws and forced labor of incarcerated black people. The authors have experience, education, and credibility to build this case and the question is, what will Americans do about this past? Countries like Germany are still practicing reparations for Jews for tragic atrocities of the Holocaust, the United States is practicing forms of reparations for Native Americans for genocidal atrocities and displacements. Germans, Americans, and many others believe in reparations… what about for black people who suffered slavery and historic discrimination that set black families back centuries and causes ongoing suffering? It’s time for reparations.
October 4, 2024
This is a must read book. I was taught about slavery and segregation when I was in school, but I was never taught the depth of the brutality and oppression African-American people faced. This entire time I kept thinking, "why did no one teach us about this?". The word "horrors" is the only one that seems to barely scrape the surface of what these people lived through. If reparations are the only way to try and reconcile injustice, then it is generations overdue. But, it won't be enough. Whatever it is, it won't be enough to compensate for the injustices done.
I really don't have a thoughtful review for this book. The only thing I can really say is that I am thankful to the authors for such detailed accounts and explanations, and that I will continue to push for equality through educating myself and advocating for justice for the descendants of African-Americans.
I really don't have a thoughtful review for this book. The only thing I can really say is that I am thankful to the authors for such detailed accounts and explanations, and that I will continue to push for equality through educating myself and advocating for justice for the descendants of African-Americans.
April 9, 2021
Whether you favor reparations or not and even if you don't care about the issue, this is a eye-opening addition to what I'll say is general knowledge of U.S. history. For instance (see page 78) I had no idea that in 1772 the British High Court in the Somerset case de facto ended the practice of slavery in England. After that, the authors argue, white colonists feared that Britain would end slavery throughout the empire and that this was a major driver fueling the war for independence. I came away with a much deeper understanding of our country and our mandate for action to deliver justice and liberty for all.
January 1, 2025
Research quality in this book is high. Argumentation is cohesive. Every section is thoroughly written. This book was written to educate and enlighten those who don’t know the entire history unabridged. It fills in gaps that even history lovers don’t normally know. Unless one has a Ph.D. In American History, a desire to investigate it further, or records access and knowledge of how to navigate the data that creates the paper trail of said history, this book will explain and illuminate the need the citizens of the US have to deeply understand a complex system of inequities doled out to her formerly enslaved and the descendants thereafter. I highly recommend this academic study.
March 14, 2025
3.75 really but- Really interesting to get more background on the discussion of reparations stemming from but not only acknowledging the start of the slave trade. Time jumps got confusing at times and I wish there was a bit more about specific programs that could also be reparations not just economic but overall soooooooo insightful
January 18, 2024
I learned an awful lot from this book, and for that reason alone, I'm giving it three stars, even though based on the quality of the writing alone, I would have given it no more than two.
In this book, Darity and Mullen go over the history of slavery in the US and of racial discrimination in the aftermath of the Civil War. They conclude by addressing the typical arguments people make against proposals for reparations for slavery, and they then offer a number of different methods that might be used to calculate a reparations amount and a way of delivering the money to affected people.
I'm far from an expert on slavery and its aftermath, but I've been trying to learn steadily, and this book revealed things to me that I had never known before.
First, I wasn't aware of how many efforts were made by Abraham Lincoln and others to get slave owners to accept money for their slaves in return for freeing them. These plans came to nought, but they were one of the primary ways that Lincoln tried to prevent the onset of war.
I also was unaware that during the war, General William Sherman, during his march to the sea, proposed a plan to turn a long strip of land through several southern states into acreage that would be allotted to former slaves for them to own and grow crops on. Because of Lincoln's assassination and the ascension of Andrew Johnson to the presidency, that plan never went anywhere, but it would have been the strongest proposal to kick-start the idea of former slaves getting 40 acres and a mule, a promise that was repeatedly made and broken. The authors argue compellingly that the failure of former slaves to get land that they could own and pass down to future generations is a major root cause for the wealth gap between Whites and Blacks today.
Another tragic eye opener was learning that the violence against blacks that began immediately after the Civil War and stretched on into the 20th century was not confined to lynchings, the Tulsa massacre, or a few other incidents I had known about. In fact, outright murders and property destruction preceded almost every election in southern states from the end of the Civil War until the end of Reconstruction, when Southern politicians could merely switch to ridiculously elaborate voter restrictions in place of outright violence.
Because this book contained nuggets like this as well as a clearly explained proposal for how reparations might work, it was very useful to me and I think it makes a compelling case for why reparations are worth pursuing and why the legacy of slavery has never really disappeared.
Unfortunately, all these benefits were obscured by a lot of bad writing, particularly in the historical sections. While the sections are roughly chronological, the authors jump around in time within each chapter in a chaotic, disruptive way. They also pepper their paragraphs with passive sentences and sentence constructions that often border on being nonsensical. The end result is that it was a much harder book to read through than it should have been given how fascinating and important the material was.
In this book, Darity and Mullen go over the history of slavery in the US and of racial discrimination in the aftermath of the Civil War. They conclude by addressing the typical arguments people make against proposals for reparations for slavery, and they then offer a number of different methods that might be used to calculate a reparations amount and a way of delivering the money to affected people.
I'm far from an expert on slavery and its aftermath, but I've been trying to learn steadily, and this book revealed things to me that I had never known before.
First, I wasn't aware of how many efforts were made by Abraham Lincoln and others to get slave owners to accept money for their slaves in return for freeing them. These plans came to nought, but they were one of the primary ways that Lincoln tried to prevent the onset of war.
I also was unaware that during the war, General William Sherman, during his march to the sea, proposed a plan to turn a long strip of land through several southern states into acreage that would be allotted to former slaves for them to own and grow crops on. Because of Lincoln's assassination and the ascension of Andrew Johnson to the presidency, that plan never went anywhere, but it would have been the strongest proposal to kick-start the idea of former slaves getting 40 acres and a mule, a promise that was repeatedly made and broken. The authors argue compellingly that the failure of former slaves to get land that they could own and pass down to future generations is a major root cause for the wealth gap between Whites and Blacks today.
Another tragic eye opener was learning that the violence against blacks that began immediately after the Civil War and stretched on into the 20th century was not confined to lynchings, the Tulsa massacre, or a few other incidents I had known about. In fact, outright murders and property destruction preceded almost every election in southern states from the end of the Civil War until the end of Reconstruction, when Southern politicians could merely switch to ridiculously elaborate voter restrictions in place of outright violence.
Because this book contained nuggets like this as well as a clearly explained proposal for how reparations might work, it was very useful to me and I think it makes a compelling case for why reparations are worth pursuing and why the legacy of slavery has never really disappeared.
Unfortunately, all these benefits were obscured by a lot of bad writing, particularly in the historical sections. While the sections are roughly chronological, the authors jump around in time within each chapter in a chaotic, disruptive way. They also pepper their paragraphs with passive sentences and sentence constructions that often border on being nonsensical. The end result is that it was a much harder book to read through than it should have been given how fascinating and important the material was.
January 25, 2021
Don't delay, this is *essential reading*. The authors provide an extensive history of past reparations 'attempts', the philosophy / morality behind the immediate need for reparations, the many lenses through which to view this importance, and concrete solutions. Ultimately, this is on all of us to push for, and we have more than ample resources to attempt to repair our nation by helping to level with the people who have been instrumental it its construction yet intentionally ignored and degraded.
March 21, 2022
"At each point that the nation stood at a critical crossroads with respect to its racial future, it chose the wrong fork."
Amazing book that takes the emotional argument out of reparations, and concentrates on a detailed economic exploration on why Black Americans today are still owed remuneration from the US government. Highly recommended for those that want to learn more about the most current information on the fight for reparations, and very highly recommended for those that do not agree with Black Americans receiving reparations.
Amazing book that takes the emotional argument out of reparations, and concentrates on a detailed economic exploration on why Black Americans today are still owed remuneration from the US government. Highly recommended for those that want to learn more about the most current information on the fight for reparations, and very highly recommended for those that do not agree with Black Americans receiving reparations.
February 9, 2021
From Here to Equality is an excellent, fact-based, researched and substantiated look at reparations for the descendants of slavery in the United States. Its even tone, analytic, reasoned approach to the topic is appreciated. Not an easy read/listen because of the devastating facts of how we undermine/d the equality of Black Americans. I highly recommend it over and above any of the other books I've read recently to educate myself.
April 30, 2024
Dr. William Sandy Darity—illustrious scholar of racial stratification, wealth inequality, and reparations—provides a compelling case for reparations of Black American descendants of enslaved Africans, focusing extensively on the unimaginable and unceasing terroristic violence Black “Americans” have been subjected to from the very moment the American project got off the ground. The case for reparations is rooted around closing a wealth gap that exists due to this perpetual socioeconomic and political deprivation rooted in slavery and its many afterlives (Black Codes, Jim Crow, land dispossession, pogroms and lynchings, mass incarceration, etc.). This book shines as a tremendous account of the true decadence and nature of American history. But this feature also plainly exposes the central weakness of Dr. Darity’s case. How can a country so irredeemably anti-Black ever be expected to carry-out a reparations package as comprehensive as needed to actually close racial disparities? The answer is it can’t, and won’t. Any honest conversation about reparations must deal with America’s fundamental nature. Dr. Darity laid out this nature when retelling America’s history, but set it aside when it came to articulating his proposal. In doing so, he set aside reality for a fantasy.
Read
November 1, 2020I reviewed this book alongside Wilkerson's book _Caste_:
https://www.klagge.net/post/2020-10-2...
https://www.klagge.net/post/2020-10-2...
April 20, 2021
Read for a seminar - lays out reasons why Black Americans are owed reparations by taking the reader through American history. Emphasizes cross roads in American history where reparations in different forms almost happened, but were quashed. The very last chapter talks about the logistics of reparations - I would have liked a longer section on this.
April 20, 2021
This book is an excellent introduction to the idea of reparations. While I appreciated the level of depth and detail that the book brought to its discussion of slavery and its economics, I wish the authors had spent more than a chapter or two on the post-slavery impact of discrimination. Although harder to quantify, the post-1865 racial discrimination and continuing racial inequality is an important facet to add to pro-reparations arguments, especially for skeptics. That being said, I appreciated this quote from Chapter 12: "[T]he failure to pay a debt in a timely fashion does not extinguish the obligation, particularly since the consequences of past injustices continue to be visited upon the descendants of the direct victims. A national act of procrastination does not eliminate the debt."
June 27, 2024
I've read numerous books up this alley and I was hoping this would finally be the one to present a cohesive strategy for reparations. The approach - providing a historical case and then how reparations could look today - was a good one, but it fell short. The historical sections left out so many critical elements. It heavily focuses on the 1800s, while neglecting many of the reasons why the government failed Black Americans in the 1900s. There was some mentions of these practices, such as redlining, lack of access to welfare programs like the GI Bill, and voter suppression, but these issues were more so mentioned in passing instead of diving into them. When I got to the final sections presenting a plan for reparations, I was very disappointed because they didn't really present much of one. They stuck to prospective amounts on what reparation amounts could look like. There weren't really any serious strategies on how it could happen. I know it's an extremely complicated task and perhaps the most difficult one the federal government would ever have to implement, which is why I was hoping an expert could shed more light on it.
August 6, 2021
If you really want your eyes opened to how Caucasians have claimed their privilege on the backs of African-Americans, this should catapault you into working to undo the knots of system racism that permeate every aspect of society - from 1619 to today. Outlines how and why whites want to keep the system tilted in their favor and how they've done so over the years. The book also builds a case for reparations, which I feel is long overdue.
August 30, 2021
A forceful new case for reparations, with perceptive narration to shape the drumbeat of historic and present-day offences. I am pleased to see a strong appetite among the other reviews here for more policy specificity in the reparations debate. My feeling, though, is that unfortunately we are still in the early days of winning public support, and the historic emphasis is in this case well founded. A compelling and readable account to continue establishing the need for reparations.
December 9, 2021
HR-40 is a bill that has be reintroduced every year since 1989 and finally cleared committee this year. It would create a commission to study reparations for descendants of slaves. From Here to Equality is supposed to be THE book to make the case for reparations. Although it has received glowing reviews on Amazon and on goodreads and I went into it inclined to support reparations I felt less inclined to do so after reading the book.
The bottom line is probably the most important part of this book if you are interested what any HR-40 committee is likely to conclude: Their conclusion, no surprise, is that descendants of slaves should be awarded reparations. The amount should be enough close the gap between the average family wealth of white versus black families. The total invoice would come to about $10 trillion or about $250,000 to each black person in the US descendent from slaves. They feel this money should go into trusts for individual black people (regardless of age) with a reparations committee approving of expenditures. To generate this kind of money they say that either the Fed should just print it, or that it be tacked onto the national debt. They feel that Congress is the entity that must bring about reparations. They see the courts as a dead end: they will just rule that most of the actions were legal at the time so there is no authority to correct them now.
They spend a chapter discussing objections to reparations. Some they deal with well, but often they miss the point of the objection and end up dealing with straw-men. For example, they cite as an objection that since Africans sold other Africans into slavery it should be African nations who have to pay reparations. I think there are a couple of points to this objection and that authors are misrepresenting it. Anyone who makes the objection is certainly not saying only African nations should have to pay. They are pointing out that Western nations were not uniquely evil at that time which many on the left today would like to make us feel. The objection is meant to be reductio ad absurdum: if the US should to pay so too should Africa, do you really believe that? By missing the point they end up merely dealing with a straw-man.
Another objection they miss the point of is "if we pay black people reparations won't we have to pay other groups"? Their answer is "yes, that should happen and especially for natives". Again the argument is meant to be reductio ad absurdum: what limiting principle would make us stop at any point if black people are compensated for past injustices? Should we pay all Irish? All Catholics? All women? Should we just do a reset where we redistribute until everyone has equal wealth now and start again? From what they state I cannot rule out that this is their ultimate intention. They hint that the principle might be that in addition to past injustice you also have to be subject to ongoing prejudice today, but they do not explicitly state this. Indeed, if that were the limiting principle then a sufficient remedy would be to get rid of present day racism. No need for reparations.
Other problems with the book are the way it presents history. There is some outright revisionist history. The main culprit here is the claim that slavery ended in England in 1772 and that a major motivation of the American Revolution was fear that Americans would lose the right to own slaves because of this. This claim was also stated in The 1619 Project and forced to be corrected. This book, however, was written just last year so the authors should know better. Since one of the authors is a professor at Duke, versus some random Joe on the Internet, I can only conclude that he is deliberately spreading misinformation. There is also a claim that all slaves were promised 40 acres of land after the civl war. This turns out to not be true when you dig into it: there was a field order to provide 40 acres to some slaves, but there was not enough land allocated for it to be all slaves. There was also a provision to allow the Freedman's Bureau to confiscate planter estates and lease them to black farmer with an option to buy but there was no mandate to give all black males in the US 40 acres of land.
The book has the the usual problems you see these days with statistics reportedly proving ongoing racism. Any inequality is taken to be proof that the cause must be racism. For instance, the authors conclude that a black life is only considered to be worth 30% as much as a white life due to the fact that, per capita, blacks people are about 3x more likely to be shot by police. No discussion of the fact that higher crime rates, particularly due to gang violence might account for this. Along with this the authors try to imply that there are more lynchings today than during Jim Crow based on the fact that about 1000 black people are shot by police every year. The circumstances do not seem to need to be considered: if a black person was shot by police it counts as a lynching.
Other reasoning in this book: if your ancestors were involved in commerce involving the cotton trade at all you are on the hook for ill-gotten intergenerational gains. There could be some truth here, but they take it too far. For example even if all your ancestors did was sell food and clothing to slave plantations they were part of the problem. At the same time they mention that when there were disruptions of food supplies to the West Indies as a result of wars many thousands of slaves ended up dying. So was providing food and clothing wrong or was it good because it prevented starvation?
I do give the book 2 stars instead of 1 since there are some tidbits that were descent. There is a short history of rulings of committees with narrow mandates on reparations for specific incidents. They also discuss an interesting study that immigrants tend to move horizontally in terms of relative economic standing once they come to America. They also go into considerable detail about political violence by the KKK and other Southern Democratic groups like the Red Shirts. With a few glaring exceptions, the history of the failure of Reconstruction is decent, but there are other better books like The Republic for which it Stands if that is your interest.
The bottom line is probably the most important part of this book if you are interested what any HR-40 committee is likely to conclude: Their conclusion, no surprise, is that descendants of slaves should be awarded reparations. The amount should be enough close the gap between the average family wealth of white versus black families. The total invoice would come to about $10 trillion or about $250,000 to each black person in the US descendent from slaves. They feel this money should go into trusts for individual black people (regardless of age) with a reparations committee approving of expenditures. To generate this kind of money they say that either the Fed should just print it, or that it be tacked onto the national debt. They feel that Congress is the entity that must bring about reparations. They see the courts as a dead end: they will just rule that most of the actions were legal at the time so there is no authority to correct them now.
They spend a chapter discussing objections to reparations. Some they deal with well, but often they miss the point of the objection and end up dealing with straw-men. For example, they cite as an objection that since Africans sold other Africans into slavery it should be African nations who have to pay reparations. I think there are a couple of points to this objection and that authors are misrepresenting it. Anyone who makes the objection is certainly not saying only African nations should have to pay. They are pointing out that Western nations were not uniquely evil at that time which many on the left today would like to make us feel. The objection is meant to be reductio ad absurdum: if the US should to pay so too should Africa, do you really believe that? By missing the point they end up merely dealing with a straw-man.
Another objection they miss the point of is "if we pay black people reparations won't we have to pay other groups"? Their answer is "yes, that should happen and especially for natives". Again the argument is meant to be reductio ad absurdum: what limiting principle would make us stop at any point if black people are compensated for past injustices? Should we pay all Irish? All Catholics? All women? Should we just do a reset where we redistribute until everyone has equal wealth now and start again? From what they state I cannot rule out that this is their ultimate intention. They hint that the principle might be that in addition to past injustice you also have to be subject to ongoing prejudice today, but they do not explicitly state this. Indeed, if that were the limiting principle then a sufficient remedy would be to get rid of present day racism. No need for reparations.
Other problems with the book are the way it presents history. There is some outright revisionist history. The main culprit here is the claim that slavery ended in England in 1772 and that a major motivation of the American Revolution was fear that Americans would lose the right to own slaves because of this. This claim was also stated in The 1619 Project and forced to be corrected. This book, however, was written just last year so the authors should know better. Since one of the authors is a professor at Duke, versus some random Joe on the Internet, I can only conclude that he is deliberately spreading misinformation. There is also a claim that all slaves were promised 40 acres of land after the civl war. This turns out to not be true when you dig into it: there was a field order to provide 40 acres to some slaves, but there was not enough land allocated for it to be all slaves. There was also a provision to allow the Freedman's Bureau to confiscate planter estates and lease them to black farmer with an option to buy but there was no mandate to give all black males in the US 40 acres of land.
The book has the the usual problems you see these days with statistics reportedly proving ongoing racism. Any inequality is taken to be proof that the cause must be racism. For instance, the authors conclude that a black life is only considered to be worth 30% as much as a white life due to the fact that, per capita, blacks people are about 3x more likely to be shot by police. No discussion of the fact that higher crime rates, particularly due to gang violence might account for this. Along with this the authors try to imply that there are more lynchings today than during Jim Crow based on the fact that about 1000 black people are shot by police every year. The circumstances do not seem to need to be considered: if a black person was shot by police it counts as a lynching.
Other reasoning in this book: if your ancestors were involved in commerce involving the cotton trade at all you are on the hook for ill-gotten intergenerational gains. There could be some truth here, but they take it too far. For example even if all your ancestors did was sell food and clothing to slave plantations they were part of the problem. At the same time they mention that when there were disruptions of food supplies to the West Indies as a result of wars many thousands of slaves ended up dying. So was providing food and clothing wrong or was it good because it prevented starvation?
I do give the book 2 stars instead of 1 since there are some tidbits that were descent. There is a short history of rulings of committees with narrow mandates on reparations for specific incidents. They also discuss an interesting study that immigrants tend to move horizontally in terms of relative economic standing once they come to America. They also go into considerable detail about political violence by the KKK and other Southern Democratic groups like the Red Shirts. With a few glaring exceptions, the history of the failure of Reconstruction is decent, but there are other better books like The Republic for which it Stands if that is your interest.
June 6, 2022
From Here to Equality, 2nd edition, by William Darity Jr and A Kirsten Mullen is an in depth and detailed look at the case for reparations as well as a plan for making them.
I think as far as making the case, this volume succeeds very well. Only so much detail can be covered in a single book meant for the public, and plenty of detail is covered, but when the time comes for working out details much more will need to be considered. To have left out all of the history would not have made sense here, this is a book that both makes a case for and creates a plan for reparations. One can't plan without making the case.
On reading, I don't see anything that just seems "wrong" in their plan, from who to include to how much. That isn't to say this will end up being the best plan, and perhaps ultimately the most workable plan that still accomplishes the goals will have to be more inclusive, which means altering it from reparations stemming from US slavery to reparations for the many wrongs that went into making the US a white supremacist nation and doing so by using or trying to eliminate entire populations.
So while the case is, I think, made sufficiently well, I view the plan as an opening suggestion in what needs to be a comprehensive settlement but one that happens sooner rather than later. We can't keep this in committees and discussions without clear timetables and goals. At the same time we have to find a way to make the maximum change with one decision so that we aren't repeating this process for every group that has a justification in calling for reparation.
Although this volume left me with as many questions as answers, I do feel like my questions are further along the path than they might otherwise be.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
I think as far as making the case, this volume succeeds very well. Only so much detail can be covered in a single book meant for the public, and plenty of detail is covered, but when the time comes for working out details much more will need to be considered. To have left out all of the history would not have made sense here, this is a book that both makes a case for and creates a plan for reparations. One can't plan without making the case.
On reading, I don't see anything that just seems "wrong" in their plan, from who to include to how much. That isn't to say this will end up being the best plan, and perhaps ultimately the most workable plan that still accomplishes the goals will have to be more inclusive, which means altering it from reparations stemming from US slavery to reparations for the many wrongs that went into making the US a white supremacist nation and doing so by using or trying to eliminate entire populations.
So while the case is, I think, made sufficiently well, I view the plan as an opening suggestion in what needs to be a comprehensive settlement but one that happens sooner rather than later. We can't keep this in committees and discussions without clear timetables and goals. At the same time we have to find a way to make the maximum change with one decision so that we aren't repeating this process for every group that has a justification in calling for reparation.
Although this volume left me with as many questions as answers, I do feel like my questions are further along the path than they might otherwise be.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
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