Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, The Conversation
Carvings and barbed wire illustrate the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial on Bainbridge Island, Wash. The site, designed by architect Johnpaul Jones, opened in 2011. (AP/Seattle Times/Jordan Stead). Featured Image
In June, the United States House of Representatives held a debate about reparations to African-Americans. One of the questions in this discussion is why Japanese-Americans received reparations for their internment by the US federal government during the Second World War, yet African-Americans have yet to receive reparations for their ancestors’ enslavement or for other crimes committed against them.
Carvings and barbed wire illustrate the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial on Bainbridge Island, Wash. The site, designed by architect Johnpaul Jones, opened in 2011. (AP/Seattle Times/Jordan Stead). Featured Image
I published an article comparing reparations to Japanese-Americans and African-Americans in the journal, Social Forces, in 2004 after a colleague, Rodney Coates, professor of Global and Intercultural Studies at Miami University, asked me this question.
The answer lies in social movement theory.
My explanation is not a moral judgment on whether African-Americans should receive reparations. I believe that they should. My explanation is a scholarly interpretation of the differences between the two movements. These differences explain why it will be more difficult for African-Americans than Japanese-Americans to receive reparations.
