A forum on slavery reparations generated compelling debate at the White Lecture Hall Monday.
A crowd of more than 50 attended the forum--hosted by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Ideas for possible reparations ranged from monetary payments to social reform to no compensation at all.
"The reparations given in a lump sum to descendants of slaves will do a lot," said Jennifer Mann, a second year graduate student in Liberal Studies. "Money is a catalyst for change."
Several speakers pointed out that, unlike past reparations given to the families of the Holocaust and Japanese internment victims, determining the lineage of slaves would prove difficult.
However, many students agreed that reparations, in any form, should be given to all blacks, regardless of whether they were descendants of slaves or not.
"This is not just a monetary reparation, but an acknowledgment that wrong was done and that it still affects people," said Wintta Woldemariam, a sophomore. "I may not be a descendent of a slave but it still affects me."
Al Curtis, a junior, agreed that the admission of fault for slavery must be addressed. "I'm still looking for an apology," he said. "[We are not] just talking about money."
Other students stressed the importance of creating social change as a result of reparations.
Rasul Miller mentioned the degradation of health care and education systems, both of which he felt needed greater attention from the current government.
"Let's put money towards things that will help our society," Miller said.
Curtis felt that improving the education system would be a good beginning to the reparations movement.
"Monetary reparations alone do not make up for hundreds of years of slavery," he said.
Daniel Kennedy, a junior and a member of the Duke Conservative Union, mentioned that simply demanding reparations was not enough. "Constantly asking 'What can I get from the government?' is self-defeatist," Kennedy said. "I think you need to focus on who will benefit and where the money will come from."
One unidentified audience member suggested that since the funding for reparations is a decisive issue, descendants of slaves, instead of receiving compensation, should not have to pay taxes for a certain period of time.
In an interview, Woldemariam added that people have little understanding of how interwoven slavery and its effects have grown in society, even at Duke. "Where do you think Mr. and Mrs. Duke's money came from?"
Curtis said that after generations of increasing the gap in wealth between blacks and whites, reparations would serve to decrease that same gap.
Another audience member asked Curtis when he thought the period of reparations would end.
"When the computers in my [high] school aren't running on DOS, when the windows aren't broken and when teachers don't park five miles away because they're afraid of my neighborhood," Curtis said. "Yeah. Around that time."
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