Program summary by Walter Impert.
Phill Briscoe was our guest for a program presentation on Reparations on October 22, 2020.
A native Kansan, Phill moved to Washington state in 1972 to be a Lecturer in Ethnic Studies at Central Washington State College (CWU). Phill soon learned that he was jack of all, but master of none. Beside being a teacher, Phill has been a realtor, debt collector, small loan manager, insurance agent, small business networking support, and is now retired. Phill considers himself a lifelong learner and has focused on Black history and Black political thought since he was an undergraduate.
Phill is a disciple in Hun yuan Tai chi and Taoism at the Taoist Institute under the direction of Shi Fu Zhi Chen.
Phill is a past–and future–long time member of the University Sunrise Rotary Club.
Phil Briscoe spoke about “The Debt”. The debt is the elephant in the room, because race is always the elephant in the room. Of course, The Debt refers to reparations owed to the descendants of African slaves, who have never been compensated for their work in building this country and creating its wealth over generations. Though toil of slave labor built the wealth of this nation, today African Americans manifestly and disproportionately do not share in the wealth of the country. Blacks are 13% of the U.S. population but hold 3% of the wealth. Blacks are also over-represented in the prison system, in twelve states, blacks represent over half of the prison population. Phil later noted that an exception to the 13th amendment, prohibiting forced labor, is for those found guilty of a crime.
Phil reminded us that reparations had been promised after the civil war – 40 acres, a mule, and $100 – but after Lincoln’s death, Andrew Johnson killed the idea. How did slavery build the country? Slaves cleared land, raised food and white children, developed land, and produced wealth for the new World and the old World. The wealth created by forced labor has never been adequately addressed, rather, post-slavery the law of the land and our institutions, again and again, made it harder for Blacks to get ahead. These included unjustified wealth distribution, black codes, the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, Jim Crow, redlining and housing discrimination, vagrancy laws and the disproportionate impact of policing and the criminal justice system, to name a few examples.
What is needed is healing and repair. Truth and reconciliation is not enough. The elements of healing and repair include Cessation, Restitution, Satisfaction and Rehabilitation. Importantly, restitution means compensation and making whole. Rehabilitation includes health and psychological services.
There is precedent for reparations. Native Americans, Japanese Americans after internment, and Germany and World War II all received reparations of some sort. Many Americans reflexively dismiss reparations by reciting myths and cheap shots. Phil addressed these tropes which include: America has done so much for you, you would be worse off in Africa; why should current taxpayers pay for the actions of those who acted wrongly long ago, Black Americans have already benefited from Affirmative Action, and why can’t Black Americans pull themselves up by their bootstraps?
Finally, Phil discussed the mechanics of how reparations would work, including how to identify the claimants, the respondents, the form for forms that reparations might take, and considerations. Phil’s priority for reparations would be building black unity and black communities. Other components would include protected class status, education, health, business grants, financial literacy, individual payments, college tuition, and student loan forgiveness, all written in plain language. There were many questions and club members expressed their appreciation to Phil for making a difficult topic accessible.
For further study, Phil recommended The Case For Reparations from Dr. Claud Anderson and Rock Newman and Black Labor, White Wealth by Dr. Anderson.
You can find the slides that Phill used here:
Here is Phill’s recommended reading list:
Black Economic Wealth Gap Resources
History
- 10 Black Scholars Who Debunked Eurocentric Propaganda
https://atlantablackstar.com/2013/10/06/10-black-scholars-debunked-eurocentric-propaganda/ - Christopher Columbus and the Afrikan Holocaust: Slavery and the Rise of European Capitalism, Dr John Henrik Clarke
- Black Labor/White Wealth, Dr Claud Anderson.
Psychology
- Black Skins/White Masks, Franz Fanon.
- Malcom X-House Negro and the Field Negro (Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf7rsCAfQCo - The Isis Papers – Dr Frances Cress Welsing
- The Falsification of Afrikan Consciousness: Amos Wilson
- Kindred by Octavia Butler
Economic Wealth Gap
- “Why we need Reparations for Black People”,
Brookings summary:
https://www.fastcompany.com/90461708/why-wealth-equality-remains-out-of-reach-for-black-americans - “How Housing Finance Enriched Whites at Expense of Black Borrowers” – Bloomberg.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-06-17/how-housing-finance-enriched-whites-at-expense-of-black-borrowers - Empire of Cotton, Atlantic Article, by Sven Beckert. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/empire-of-cotton/383660/
- Empire of Cotton: A Global History, book by Sven Beckert.
- The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, Book by Edward E. Baptist
Case for Reparations
- “The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates – The Atlantic,
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/ - “A Nation Built on the Backs of Slavery and Racism”, Truthout article, https://truthout.org/articles/forty-acres-and-a-mule-would-be-at-least-6-4-trillion-today-what-the-us-really-owes-black-america/
- Treaty of 1866 – Choctaw & Chickasaw Nation, http://www.african-nativeamerican.com/treaty66.htm
- “Case for Reparations”, William Darity, “Crisis Magazine”.
https://www.thecrisismagazine.com/single-post/2019/09/09/The-Case-For-Reparations
Reparations Models
- Contract with Black America-Ice Cube
https://contractwithblackamerica.us/ - Reparations Across The Board
https://www.blackchannelfilms.com/documents/wbpd.pdf - The National African American Reparations Commission. https://ibw21.org/initiative-posts/naarc-posts/naarc-rolls-out-preliminary-10-point-reparations-plan/
- ADOS (American Descendants of African Slaves)
https://ados101.com/black-agenda - Reparations Model-Dr Claud Anderson
https://youtu.be/-26bg9fQNOQ
Miscellaneous
- Affirmative Action Myth Busters
https://www.acluok.org/sites/default/files/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Affirmative-Action-Mythbusters.pd - White women benefit most from affirmative action — and are among its fiercest opponents
https://www.vox.com/2016/5/25/11682950/fisher-supreme-court-white-women-affirmative-action
Academic Discussion re: Wealth Gap
- Why it’s important to study disparities within ethnic groups | Glenn Loury & William “Sandy” Darity-Economic Discussion.
You Tube Video: https://youtu.be/VMGJVXnpgzw - “What we get wrong about closing the wealth gap,” William Darity.
https://socialequity.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/what-we-get-wrong.pdf - “Why Does Racial Inequities Exist,” Glenn Loury.
https://media4.manhattan-institute.org/sites/default/files/R-0519-GL.pdf