Reparations, kinda a volatile issue, right? Beyond the moral reasoning of: “Slavery was messed up, so Americans have a duty to make it right.” What would be the reason for the Federal Government to pay Black Folk for the horrors of The Transatlantic Slave Trade? Well how about an actual promise from the Federal Government of the United States of America? That’s right, today we’re talking about “40 acres and a mule” and why it’s relevant to today.
In the final year of the Civil War the writing was pretty much on the wall. The confederacy was on the ropes, and had no real chance of winning. With their loss mere months away there was a serious question about what would happen to the many enslaved Black laborers in the South. Black folk were like: “We been working this land our whole lives, we should be entitled to reap the benefits that come from our labor!” On January 16th 1865 following a large Union military operation that saw tens of thousands of Black folk march with General William Tecumseh Sherman through Georgia to secure a Union Victory, Sherman ordered that the freed men who fought with him would be allowed to keep parcels of land not more than 40 acres. The mule part was kind of added on later, but many folks who were given land did get a mule as well. Then President Abraham Lincoln agreed. So by all rational readings of the law we should have had an all Black settlement in the south. The order basically went like this:
1. The area from Charleston to Saint Johns River, Florida and thirty miles back from the sea would be reserved as a settlement for freed Black folk 2. White folks can’t kick it in this reservation, and the land is only subject to the United States in times of war. 3. The United States Military would protect this Black settlement 4. If a Black Person served in the United States Military they would have the right to choose a parcel of land and settle on it. 5. The settlement would have to follow US Law 6. One of the Generals would immediately begin his duties protecting and settling disputes within the settlement.
Here’s the problem though. The next President: Andrew Johnson was like: “Lol, hell no!” and he reversed the order, totally giving back the land to Southern Slave holders. It was super wack, but the promise of Black land ownership was revoked and hopes for Black prosperity following the Civil War seemed to dwindle. Unfortunately the trend of Black folks being divested up their property continues to this day. Here’s some wild facts: By 1910 Black folk owned 15,000,000 acres of land in Alabama, Mississippi, and in North and South Carolina. In 1980 that number had been reduced to 5,000,000 acres and currently sits at around 2,000,000 acres total in this area.
So this is gonna be a short one, because all I’m trying to say is that the American Government made a promise to freed Black folk at the end of the Civil War and did not hold up their end of the bargain. America as a whole has yet to make any efforts to rectify the atrocities committed and because of that Millions of Black folk are still financially disenfranchised. In what world are we supposed to feel like equal and free citizens when our contributions to this nation still go unrecognized.
Today as it stands only 37 percent of Americans believe that Black folk should be compensated in anyway for the legacy of slavery. Only 19 percent of white folks think there should be some form of reparative justice for slavery compared to 63 percent of Black folk. To me it’s not even a question. If you make a promise, keep that promise, otherwise what does the word of the American Government even mean…oh wait…
Comments