The Legacies of Slavery and Reparations Reparations? Just the term stirs up controversy, along with endless amounts of questions that are still to be answered. Should reparations be awarded? Is it feasible? Who should receive it? In what forms should it be given? These are only a few of the most important questions that need to be answered. To answer these questions, I will draw on the research conducted for my country study and the panel debates that were conducted over the past weeks. To fully understand my reasoning you must be informed of the approaches discussed on both sides of these debates. The pro-reparation panel’s approach to subject was a very traditional method of thought having a tangible value. They argued that millions of Africans were wrongfully displaced throughout the triangle of trade that was formed between Africa, the New World and Britain. Stripped of almost everything except their life and sometimes even that, these Africans, who were now slaves, were gathered like cattle into forts and castles along the Africa coast awaiting their long journey of no return. Thousands of Africans were thrown into dungeons without a clue of what was in store for them, nor did they know that many of them would not complete the journey of the Middle Passage. Those that were able to withstand the grueling conditions of the middle passage were than divided and redistributed for the economic gain of others. They were treated like savages, as slave owners strapped heavy metal shackles that covered their body. Linked together by chains, these slaves were again loaded and transported to the place they would call “home”. A home quite different from what they were used to abroad. All the luxuries they had in Africa soon became a vague memory as their new life as a slave became reality. Extremely long days of hard physical labor, ending sometimes with beatings, and unsanitary living conditions, is what becam...
