RepairRepair
Renewed attention today to a demand for reparations for Black people in this country invites us to turn our attention to the historical context from which that demand originates. Repair takes up that invitation, offering a detailed account of the circumstances that surrounded the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in two unique contexts, the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Davis Bend, Jefferson Davis&; former plantation outside Vicksburg, Mississippi. Repair makes the case for racial reparations in the United States by returning to a time at the end of slavery when many formerly enslaved people were provided land explicitly as a form of reparation, yet after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated that land was stolen back from freed people and given to former slave owners. Thus begins a complicated and volatile fight for justice for Black Americans who have had to demand retribution for the crime of slavery in the US.
A compelling case for reparations based on powerful, first person accounts detailing both the horrors of slavery and past promises made to its survivors.
Katherine Franke makes a powerful case for reparations for Black Americans by amplifying the stories of formerly enslaved people and calling for repair of the damage caused by the legacy of American slavery. Repair invites readers to explore the historical context for reparations, offering a detailed account of the circumstances that surrounded the emancipation of enslaved Black people in two unique contexts, the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Davis Bend, Mississippi, Jefferson Davis&;s former plantation. Through these two critical historical examples, Franke unpacks intergenerational, systemic racism and white privilege at the heart of American society and argues that reparations for slavery are necessary, overdue and possible.
Katherine Franke is one of the nation&;s leading scholars writing on law, racial justice, and African American history. Her first book was Wedlocked: The Perils of Marriage Equality. She is the Sulzbacher Professor of Law, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Columbia University and chair of the board of Trustees of the Center for Constitutional Rights. 
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- Chicago, Illinois : Haymarket Books, 2019.
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