The human race and racism: My take on reparations

Assembly Bill (AB) 3121 was enacted on Sept. 30, 2020 and established the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. When I first became aware of the latest push for reparations I was hopeful. As an African American, over the age of 75, I knew of previous efforts, starting with Special Field Order 15, aka “40 acres and a mule” and the string of betrayals and disappointments before and since. I wondered what kind of information would be considered and what recommendations they might come up with. When the final report was published, I downloaded it and started reading. It took me three weeks to get through it. There was a lot of information about the effects of the institution of slavery on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual lives of the enslaved. Much, but not all of the information, I was already familiar with and it was still hard to read about again. I had to stop often and turn to something else for a while. If everyone read the entire report, which is doubtful, I think they might better understand why we still feel/think we are owed. As I read through the recommendation after...