WHO SHOULD PAY FOR THE PAST?

When the topic of reparations for slavery comes up, many people say, “Why should I pay for something I didn’t do?” They argue that their families never owned slaves, and they personally had nothing to do with it. That sounds reasonable on the surface, until you take a closer look.

The truth is, even if someone didn’t own slaves, many white Americans today live with advantages that come from a system built on the backs of enslaved people. Look at the numbers: as of 2022, the average white family had six times more wealth than the average Black family. That’s not because white families work harder - it’s because wealth grows over generations, and Black Americans were denied that opportunity for centuries.

Imagine this: two people start a race. One is allowed to start running immediately, while the other is held back for 300 years. Then, finally, the second runner is released and told, “Okay, now it’s fair. Just run faster!” That’s exactly how America’s economy has worked. White families were able to buy land, build businesses, and pass down money to their children. Black families, on the other hand, were locked out of those opportunities through slavery, Jim Crow laws, redlining, and discriminatory policies that lasted well into the 20th century.

Even today, white Americans hold 84% of the country’s wealth while making up only 66% of the population. That wealth isn’t just about salaries—it’s about property, investments, and business ownership that have been passed down for generations.

So when someone says, “I didn’t enslave anyone” while living comfortably in a home that generational wealth helped them buy, with savings and investments that grew from advantages built long ago, they are ignoring a key fact: they may not have caused the problem, but they continue to benefit from it. And if they benefit from a system that created deep racial inequality, shouldn’t they also be part of the solution?

Fairness isn’t just about who did what in the past, it’s about what’s right in the present. The wealth gap is real, and it didn’t appear by accident. It was built on stolen labor, and it will take action, not just words, to fix it.

Thanks for reading. Abrazos.

Diego Rojas