How Pop Culture Shapes Reparations

As the movement for reparations gains steam, mainstream and independent content creators continue to find new ways to advance the idea of reparative damages for Black people on screen. Reparations—concrete compensation to Black Americans for historical and current racial harm—are becoming a topic of discussion in our culture, and even the focus of policy guidelines. But they haven’t been discussed much in pop culture–until recently. In the past, the issue has been relegated to satire, shrouded in misinformation, and left to the most radical voices to broach. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, however, reparations are more commonly discussed on social media platforms like TikTok and even Disney TV shows. But questions still remain about whether such coverage has been effective in convincing the public about the importance of reparations. Defining reparations is key to fully understanding the topic, and there are several ways to do so. In a 2022 interview with Vox’s Into the Mix podcast, Erika Alexander, director, actor, producer, writer, and creator, explained that “Reparations is making amends by paying money to the persons or persons who have been wronged.” She went on to describe reparations to Black Americans as financial compensation, but also “an apology for slavery.” Those...