Ta-Nehisi Coates The Case For Reparations Summary

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In “The Case for Reparations”, Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses inequality through African Americans. According to Coates, America built prosperity on slavery, racial discrimination and unfair housing policies through the years. America has morals to obtain and until reparations are brought to justice America will fail to do so. Over Two-hundred years ago, Enslavement of African Americans was normal. Black Americans were sold for cheap labor and one-third of all whites’ income was based off slave labor. In the southern states, Virginia had the largest number of enslaved African Americans. In addition, One-fourth of all white citizens owned slaves. Slaves were a huge asset for America’s manufacturing business, therefore whites benefited. After slavery, …show more content…

As Clyde Ross grew older, he eventually married and started a family and dreamed of owning a home. However, homeownership was hard to obtain as a black American, so the only way to buy a home was through contract sales. This was a preposterous agreement between the seller and buyer; if the buyer missed a payment then he or she will lose recent down payments and the property itself. In order to keep up with the payments Ross had to get three jobs and his wife as well, also they had to pull their children from private school. Ross numerously tried to get a home in another neighborhood with a reasonable contract, but was denied due to redlining. Which was refusing a loan to someone that lived in a poor area. This left many African Americans stranded and lost all hope of owning a home one-day. Coates explains the unfair housing policies that African Americans faced therefore shows inequality towards African …show more content…

African Americans were forced into poverty because of Jim Crow Act, which segregated blacks and whites. Therefore, made it impossible for blacks to come out of poverty due to past history. In addition, White families were wealthier than black families regardless of income. This negatively affected African Americans mentality on believing that they could be successful one day. This also refers to Culture Pathologies, which was a belief of a spiritual or culture disease among African Americans as Coates explained. For instance, a young black boy was told, “You’re no good” and “you will never own anything”. No matter how hard African Americans try or struggle to succeed in life they will always be nothing, according to

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