What Picture Comes to Your Mind?
I think most everyone can agree on the fact that there is a very distinguishable amount of racial inequality to this day. However, since this theme of racism has been around since the 17th century and not much has been done, African American history has gone unnoticed. Although there has been some reform, is it really enough to justify that the past is covered up? Although slavery does not exist anymore, the African American community is still seen, by some, as inferior to the rest of the population. They are sick of it; sick of being mistreated, sick of being crucified because of their color of their skin and culture. They know that the current reparations that have been directed towards their race is not enough to overcome the 400 + year inequality that they faced. In fact, people's grandparents that are still alive were probably slaves or mistreated horribly.
What Does Darby Say?
Darby argues that focusing on other alternatives to addressing reparations rather than zooming in on a particular event that occurred throughout history such as slavery. He argues that all root causes of racial inequality constitute obstacles to self development. A truly liberal society which focuses on individual freedom would try to eradicate any obstacles such as racial inequality. What makes Darby's argument unique is that he does not focus on the normative ideal of providing explanation for root causes of racial inequality, but he differs from this argument, leaving space for disagreement over these particular inequalities. The reason for bringing up this point is because it puts both sides of the argument into one claim. People who wish to defend black reparations while also noticing the disagreement among social scientists with regards to the root, empirical (as Darby frequently uses) causes of racial inequalities that are reoccurring.
Do I Agree With Darby?
Short answer: Yes
Justification: I really enjoyed Darby's view of the persistent racial issues. Reparations need to be given to the African American community. Although some people may not agree, we did not live when this community faced complete discrimination, slavery and segregation. There is no room to talk, the bottom line is that there is still innate racism infused in some people's heads, further adding to the reason that African Americans need reparations. However, the twist is that instead of basing it off root causes of inequality since there is apparent disagreement, Darby mentions that there needs to be some room for disagreement since African American history is not well recorded, thus applying blame to people is unrealistic. Thus, offering a view that focuses on self-development and freedom rather than focusing on those roots problems such as slavery. Clearly, we are still in a time of racial injustice, so this issue matters even more. Since we (U.S.) have not made any progress in providing compensation to the African American community, we need to think of things on a simpler scale, rather than try to associate blame to people, when events such as slavery happen centuries ago. This argument suggests a possible way forward and it deals with not focusing on the past events that are out of our reach.
Hi Andrew,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you set up your post. I also liked your response to Darby’s argument. I agree that reparations should be made. There isn’t really one person we can put the blame on, but something needs to be done in order to fix the racial injustices we still have in society today.