For many, the achievement gap is considered the social justice issue of the 21st century. What the average Black student knows upon graduation, the average White student mastered in the 8th grade. Ironically, resolving this issue might begin by addressing one of the more controversial unresolved issues in American history-reparations. Within the Black community alone, there is noticeable variation in how to address the issue of reparations that tend to evoke feelings of anger and morose regardless of the individual position. Outside of the Black community, feelings of guilt sometime accompany the aforementioned feelings. By using the concept of forgiveness and the theory of stereotype threat, it will be argued that the resulting climate created by the current discourse on reparations has a negative impact on the achievement gap. Recommendations for how to address reparations to reduce the achievement gap will be provided.