“Reparations is a legitimate domestic and international demand for compensation and repair for the damages associated with slavery, genocide, and colonialism,” proclaims a prominent DSA blog. The sentiment is also frequently aired by current DSA political candidates.

Those who advocate reparations argue that, seven or eight generations after slavery was abolished in the U.S., descendants of enslaved people remain disadvantaged and are still unable to participate fully in the nation's economic life because of slavery and of Jim Crow’s lingering effects. Even if one accepts such a highly faulty premise, a fundamental question remains: Who owes what to whom?

Only a small percentage of American households in the 1860s owned slaves. The overwhelming majority of white Americans, the South included, did not own slaves, could not afford to own them, and had no direct involvement in the institution of slavery.

At the same time, the current descendants of those who did own slaves almost certainly rejected and condemned slavery. Should they bear financial responsibility for the actions of ancestors who lived more than 160 years ago? Should Americans whose families had no connection to slavery bear that responsibility as well?

Even if it were possible to identify every living descendant of slave owners and every living descendant of enslaved people, how should financial responsibility be determined? And, should Americans whose ancestors played no role in slavery or Jim Crow, regardless of race, be expected to pay anything?

Here is a historical consideration that DSA advocates do not........

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