A lecture titled “1619-2019: The Quest for Reparatory Justice to Achieve More Perfect Union” was held in the Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center Theater at Hofstra University on Oct. 23, presented as part of the Center for Civic Engagement’s Day of Dialogue XVII.
Ron Daniels, a retired Distinguished Lecturer from York College, gave the talk. He opened the discussion on reparations for the African American community in particular. He stated that it has been 400 years since the first African slaves landed in Jamestown, and that currently, a Bill, HR40, has been made which studies proposals on reparations for African Americans. Originally the Bill only meant to study the matter of reparations, not the actual actions of making those reparations, he said.
Dr. Daniels then went on to define what reparation means: “To repair or give restitution for damages inflicted on people, those of which can be physical, spiritual, or cultural,” he said.
Emphasizing the need to position this in the context of the United States, Daniels mentioned how various other peoples have in some way or extent been given restitutions, such as Jewish, Inuit, and Japanese communities after World War II, and that even Australia has given back millions of euros to the aboriginal people because of the colonization that took place.
He noted that we are all the beneficiaries of the overtaking of a land by another people, saying that this is a truth that we as a society have to own up to in order to move forward.
Dr. Daniels then went into The Holocaust of Enslavement, also referred to as the Maafa. That even if we were to take the most conservative numbers, there would still be a count of 20-50 million Africans kidnapped and brutally taken to the Americas. He mentioned that slavery was not based on the notion of racial inferiority, but instead on cheap labor.
Dr. Daniels then brought up that Africa has had multiple great empires, from Ghana to the library of Timbuktu, existing far before Europe had the same by thousands of years, and “prior to Columbus getting lost”. He referenced the television series “Roots” as a way into discussing the cultural erasure of the African descended people.
“To take away your name, is to take away your culture.” he said, that culture acts as the identity and bonding force of a people, and without it those people lose their identity. Even throughout the Caribbean, people still hold to African culture in some ways, whether by religion, language, or traditions.
This idea of cultural continuity is what Dr. Daniels defined as the reason that European immigrants were able to easily set up communities in the United States, they came with their cultural identities intact. He mentioned that the overlaying idea of exploitation as a major factor of the slave trade, with colonization itself a parasitic enterprise which this country has been built off of.
Finally, Dr. Daniels listed off the many ways throughout American history by which African Americans have been placed at disadvantages or segregated from the rest of America, how the Emancipation actually meant very little, and that African Americans had actually exercised more political power during the reconstruction than any time in the present.
Dr. Daniels then addressed the separation of (poor) whites and blacks. This idea that by inciting racism and white supremacy, the lower class wouldn’t be able to come together to fight injustices. Things such as drinking fountains, seats, even graves, and including certain jobs only for white people, which weren’t high end jobs, were given to whites as a means of creating a class distinction between them and blacks.
Daniels concluded by saying that we must form rational immigration policies that do not brutalize the human beings seeking asylum, or simply coming back home, as Arizona Texas and California were all originally Mexican territory, and how many asylum seekers would have stayed if their country was alright. He finished by saying that this reparation should be one of spiritual as well as physical repair. Up to 71% of African Americans now believe reparation is possible.
“The narrative tells of the history, but not what to do as far as moving forward. Bringing that history close and coming to grips with it, but without it being paralyzing, is key,” said Linda Longmire, Director for CCE and professor of global studies and geography.
“I think it’s an interesting topic, I’m receptive to the idea. I’m just worried about possible political backlash. The reason we have an “orange” president is because of the older generation’s fear of changing. Going ahead full force might give more ammunition to that fear,” said Christopher Heilig, a junior history major.
“Mr. Daniels was incredibly inspiring” Nathan Silverberg, a junior history major.
“It was a great informative speech that helped me understand what representative justice is and why it should take place in the United States” Imani Hinson, CCE fellow and senior history and secondary education double major.
