- Originally published in the Times-Picayune on 4/16/2004 [here]
Professor: Slave reparations go beyond money
Movement is about recognition, he says
Reparations to the descendants of African slaves
isn't just about money, one of the foremost authorities of the
burgeoning movement told an audience at Tulane University's Law School
on Thursday. Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree Jr. said he
doesn't believe every African-American should receive a check for the
pain and suffering of their ancestors. The money should be placed in a
trust fund to assist the poorest of the poor, he said, adding that
economics, education and health care should be top priorities.
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Many descendants simply want recognition of the tremendous sacrifices
and contributions African slaves made to the United States and an
apology, he said. What makes the issue so divisive is the word
reparations itself, Ogletree said.
"It's the word that turns most people off, not the goals that are at the end of the word," Ogletree said.
Ogletree's arguments still didn't convince Uptown resident Marcello Paoletti.
"I don't see how the taxpayers of today should be punished for events that happened a long time ago," Paoletti said.
Today's Americans did not participate in slavery and are not benefiting from it economically, he said.
Ogletree opened up the topic for a frank discussion with the audience
after speaking at Tulane Law School's annual Dreyfous lecture series on
civil liberties and human rights.
"The debate about race is just starting, each of us has an
obligation to participate in it," Ogletree said. "We are a very strong
nation that should confront the issues of race if we are going to move
forward."
Ogletree, 51, is considered one of the nation's most respected legal
scholars and one of the leaders in the reparations movement. Ogletree
is co-chairman, along with Randall Robinson, of the Reparations
Coordinating Committee, a group seeking reparations for descendants of
African slaves.
But Ogletree admitted that reparations would probably never be resolved in the courtroom.
"Litigation is the least effective way to solve this problem," Ogletree
said. "I think it takes moral and political courage to do it."
Most of Ogletree's lecture was dedicated to a recent lawsuit the
scholar and several others filed on behalf of a black business district
known as Greenwood in Tulsa, Okla., once considered the
African-American version of Wall Street until a race riot in 1921
destroyed the community.
White people "destroyed all the businesses and burned them to the ground," Ogletree said. "Then they went to the homes."
In short order, 100 to 300 African-Americans were killed and their bodies were never found, Ogletree said.
In February, Ogletree said, he appeared before a federal court in Tulsa
to argue in favor of reparations for the surviving victims and their
descendants. In March, a federal judge ruled that survivors cannot seek
reparations because the statute of limitations in the case had expired.
On April 1, Ogletree said, he appealed the ruling and is hopeful that the appeals court will reverse the decision.
Ogletree said the judge wrote that the suit should have been filed in
1969 because he saw that as a period when the survivors could have been
treated fairly under the law without fearing retaliation based on
racism.
"The judge ruled in our favor in four of the five legal issues, and we
are convinced that his decision to cite 1969 . . . is arbitrary and
capricious," Ogletree said.
Other communities share horror stories similar to Greenwood's, and as
the debate on reparations continues, more cases will come to the
forefront, Ogletree said.
Ashley Wicks, a 24-year-old Tulane Law student, said she welcomed Ogletree's frankness in discussing race.
"During the whole lecture, I was leaning forward in my seat," Wicks
said. "He was very honest. When a lot of people talk about race they
want to sugarcoat it to avoid offending others. He made you really
think about the way things are, the way things were and they way things
should be.