From “Rebirth of a Nation: Reparations and Remaking America” by Joel Edward Goza
Today, many people recognize the reality of stark racial inequalities and the role of racism in creating that injustice. Yet, while more than three out of four Black people support reparation, almost three out of four white people reject them. White Americans often desire innocence more than justice, so we pretend that all the moral and financial debts our ancestors incurred vanished and no personal or communal profit was pocketed. But since the past is always present, when we claim to be innocent of the sins of previous generations, what we really mean is simple: we would rather Black people continue to suffer as second-class citizens than pay the price required to tend our nation’s racial wounds.