In 1783, Belinda Sutton, a West African-born woman who had served for years on the Antigua plantation of Issac Royall, petitioned the legislature in Massachusetts to have the Royall estate compensate her for the years of unpaid labor. Her request amounted to one of the earliest known calls for financial reparations in the United States. This course seeks to place this act in context, by exploring the interrelationships among history, race, and policy in the United States from the colonial era until the present. The course will be divided into six sections. Section one will frame our understanding of reparations, beginning with definitions and frameworks. Sections two-five will feature case studies?Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and global comparisons. We will conclude the term by looking at contemporary examples of calls for reparations at the municipal or state level across the United States and assessing contemporary prospects for reparations for African Americans. In addition to defining reparations, the course will explore why the request for reparations have been answered affirmatively in some instances but not others. It will examine the case for and against reparations with specifics drawn from history and policy.
PubPol 727 History, Reparations, and Policy
Kaltura Video
