Manufacturing Dissent Since 1996
New interviews throughout the week

We must have a demand: Towards a transformative, Black-lead reparations movement.

1051glenford

Deciding what form, what the price of reparations should be, what reparations should accomplish - that is the duty of Black America to come up with. We must have a demand, and that requires a long debate in the Black community before there can be closure, that is, saying the debt is paid. It is the person who is struck who is the one to cry out and make the demand - and that is us. I don't think it's proper to ask any Democratic presidential candidate to offer any kind of reparations scheme to us. That is for the Black community to formulate.

Writer Glen Ford explores the possibilities of reparations, and the limits of the Democratic party's racial politics - as 2020 presidential hopefuls advance insufficient reparations schemes to court Black voters, only a radical, Black-driven demand to redress the crimes of slavery can be acceptable, and it must come from Black people seeking justice, not politicians seeking votes.

Glen wrote the article Reparations Means Global Social Transformation for Black Agenda Report.

Share Tweet Send

 

Glenfordbio

 

Related Interviews
More with Glen Ford