Where Do WE Go From Here?

Facilitated by Dr. Martin Tyler and Jen Kretser

FACILITATOR BIOGRAPHIES

Martin Tyler, Doctor of Oral Medicine, is a tenured professor at McGill University. He graduated from George Washington and Howard Universities. He is a U.S. Naval Officer and author. He lives in the Adirondacks and Montreal. He is a board member of John Brown Lives!

Jen Kretser leads The Wild Center’s climate change engagement programs including the global Youth Climate Program. She has led several Youth Climate delegations to U.N. climate conferences. She serves on Climate Literacy Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) and the U.S. Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) Coordinating Team, the board of Adirondack Mountain Club, and is a core team member of the Adirondack Diversity Initiative.

SET THE TONE

The buzz before and after the dialogue was a testament to the community that developed over the course of the nine conversations. Jen’s academic, organizational, and environmental knowledge paired well with Martin’s passionate, personal, and historically-centered expertise. Jen began the conversation with an introduction to the climate work she leads at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, a land acknowledgment, and the rules of engagement: Our conversation is to take place in a safe and inclusive space, participants are to share the air and allow each other time to contribute, and all benefit from hearing all perspectives.

ACTIVITY

Participants were given the following prompts to discuss in groups of 3–4:
Are reparations cash, rewarded to those treated unjustly?
Are reparations to repair injustice that prevented the possibility of generational wealth?
Or, are they something else?

After sharing in small groups, the large group reconvened and shared ideas, detailed in the “LESSONS AND DISCUSSION POINTS” section of this summary.

Later, Martin turned our attention to the late jazz musician Oscar Brown, Jr. He passed around printouts with Brown’s photo and biography, along with lyrics to his 1965 song, “Forty Acres and a Mule.” The song was played aloud, and participants read along:

“Forty Acres and a Mule”
if i`m not mistaken i once read,
durin` that short spell i spent in school,
where ev`ry slave set free was s`posed to get,
for slavin`,
forty acres and a mule.
now ain`t no tellin` how much work was done
by my ancestors under slaver`s rule,
but sure as hell the total`s got to run
at least,
to forty acres and a mule.
now i`m not sayin` this to see folks sweat,
`cause i`m not bitter,
neither am i cruel,
but ain`t nobody paid for slavery yet;
about my forty acres and a mule…
we had a promise that was taken back,
an` when we hollered it was, `hush, be cool!`
well me, i`m bein` rowdy, hot an` black:
i want my forty acres an` my mule!
don`t tell me not to get myself upset,
don`t look at me like i`m some kinda ghoul,
jus` answer quietly,
when do i get
my goddam forty acres and my mule?
no thanks, i`ll take my own self out to lunch.
no thanks, i`ll dig me my own swimmin` pool,
an` lay an` play aroun` with my own bunch,
if i git forty acres and a mule.
`cause interest gotta go on jus` like rent,
(i may be crazy, but i ain`t no fool.)
one hundred years of debt at ten percent,
per year,
per forty acres,
an` per mule.
now add that up
an` ooooeeee looka there!
no wonder y`all called great grandmaw a jew`l.
jus` pay me that an` call the whole thing square
yes lordy,
forty acres and a mule!

After the song, the group proceeded to consider another set of questions:
Why do supporters of reparations hold the federal government responsible?
What do Americans have to gain or lose if an apology is accompanied by reparations?
Has the United States ever attempted reparations before?

After personal shares and an exploration into topics outlined in “LESSONS AND DISCUSSION POINTS,” a final set of questions was discussed as the conversation began to wrap up:
Are reparations possible?
Is “reparations” the right word to use?
What if reparations were made not about race but about class and wealth?
What if money was awarded to affected people at a certain socioeconomic level?
Would White people benefit disproportionately if reparations were based on socio-economic status because they already enjoy race privilege to some degree? Who is the system set up to help?
How might economic reparations improve quality of life for the entire nation for generations to come? How do we open the door to repair the profound economic disadvantage that has been systematically imposed upon Black people? Ex: who received COVID stimulus money, and how did it permeate the culture and spark the economy?
How do people mobilize around an issue of national importance to heal a gaping wound in our society?

To end the final conversation in the series, Jean gave each participant a blank venn diagram to fill out with three intersecting circles, asking:
What are you passionate about?
What are you good at?
What needs doing?
Considering all of this, what is your action?

The following are some excerpted responses from participants:
Engage, be curious, confront people who make racist remarks.
Read articles about opposing viewpoints in order to educate ourselves and cultivate our ability to respond.
Practice non-confrontational responses. Ask, “Why?”
Listen carefully to understand.
Write letters to local newspaper editors.
Donate to educational initiatives for Black students and Black justice organizations.
Be informed about abortion access.
Be inspired to action by heroes like Greta Thunberg who said, “Even if it’s impossible, at least we tried.”
Gather people around me who are motivated to do something in their community.

LESSONS AND DISCUSSION POINTS

• The major points that came from the conversation are outlined below:
• We remain uncertain what “repair” can mean and we acknowledge that the country was built through the forced labor of enslaved peoples on lands that were vacated because of the murder and expulsion of Indigenous peoples.
• Honesty over denial: a foundation that acknowledges what happened is the basis for reparations. Historical knowledge is a prerequisite for reparations.
• The historic conditions of denying access to generational wealth for people who were enslaved and their descendents is a critical element of the conversation about reparations.
• From Ta-Nehisi Coates: reparations are the “full acceptance of our collective biographies and its consequences…”
• Reparations allow for a sense of recognition of the wrongdoing that permeates the culture. How does a society move from denial to admitting that we need to make amends as a nation?
• There’s no either/or when it comes to reparations. Repairing injustice through equitable measures or benefits should compound in value, not necessarily cash.
• The U.S. has not made a full, accurate, descriptive apology. The Nova Scotia government formally apologized to Indigenous peoples. The apology is what facilitated funding and cultural appreciation for Indigenous groups in Nova Scotia.
• • National vulnerability is required to admit to historic wrongdoings by the United States government. An apology requires that the United States want to make amends and facilitate equity.
  • Germans have taken national responsibility for the Holocaust. Apologies follow historic knowledge, which must be taught and not censored in schools.
  • Some suggested a national apology could facilitate moral clarity, or be met with a backlash. It could alienate those who disagree and contribute to further disunity in our country.
  • Others felt it could facilitate a new sense of unity between those who would be paid reparations and the citizens who support the motion. It could open the door to interconnectedness, relationships, and a sense of trust in the U.S. It could repair the loss of generational wealth.
• The federal government allowed slavery and racist policies to exist. Slavery is encoded in the Constitution as set forth by the Founding Fathers. Reparations relate to the foundational elements of the Republic and the right to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Repairing the nation is a collective responsibility.
• Institutions that profited from slavery and institutional racism must be held financially responsible (state and federal governments, companies, etc.)
• • The federal government can begin to hold corporations accountable by requiring them to pay taxes and engage in focused philanthropy.
• The federal government holds the power to reset the culture, and align the nation towards enforceable equity and cohesive anti-racist policies.
• • Ideological splits in the federal government make it difficult to facilitate rapid change in the nation; civil rights violations are addressed intermittently.
• If Democrats fully embraced reparations as part of the party platform, they would need to win more than one landslide election to enact these changes.
• From Martin: 85% of Whites disapprove of reparations, 74% of Blacks favor reparations. He asked, “What are you willing to give up for reparations? What have White individuals gained at the expense of Black people?”
• Institutionalized racism needs to have an institutionalized response. It’s only a start if White people are willing to admit that they’ve benefited from generational wealth – they must be willing to make it right
• Anticipated rebuttals to reparations: “Who’s next? We can’t do this for everyone…What do we do? Write a check?”
• Oral histories exist as valid proof of who should qualify for reparations:
• • Martin shared pieces of his family history with the group. He showed a photo of his great-grandmother, Granny Sally, who was born in Virginia in 1827 and sold out of Lynchburg at the age of 13. He knew her as a boy. He showed a photo of his great-great-grandmother, Granny Lou, who was also enslaved. He told the group that both of these grandmothers had children by their White enslavers. The group appreciated this rich opportunity for reflection and learning during the conversation.
• A White participant asked Dr. Tyler, “You are a distinguished scholar and a successful man, what would reparations be for you? What do we give you?”
• • Dr. Tyler responded with a personal story about being denied a student loan that he needed to finish dental school until a White friend from his days of track and field in high school put in a good word for him. He qualified all along, but was initially denied without a legitimate reason. He reminded the group that it can’t be the responsibility of Black people to generate all of the answers, as if all people would agree on one thing. Answers begin internally with White people admitting their privilege and opening up to the concept of making amends on a national scale.
  • A previous facilitator who is Black pointed out that Dr. Tyler is the exception in a system that is not designed for the success of Black people.
• The role of conversation: the goal isn’t to trick racist people into agreeing to reparations, but to circumvent resistance to talking about the negative notions they hold about race.
• From Jen: we can talk about reparations in our professional worlds, with our families, and in other spheres of influence.
• Climate & reparations: Many climate issues primarily affect communities of people of color. Colonization in its modern-day form is evident when developers rush in to take ownership of properties after catastrophic natural disasters. Examples include the displacement of native Hawaiian families in Lahaina, Maui after fires, and catastrophic destruction in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Indigenous and long-time residents lost or never had documentation of ownership, opening the door to this modern form of colonization.
• Social issues are deeply interconnected. Even as we transition towards a greener world, we should remember to ask, who benefits and who suffers from our transition to a low-carbon world?

READING LIST

“The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic, June 2014