The Black Reparations Project: A Handbook for Racial Justice

Edited by William A. Darity Jr., A. Kirsten Mullen, and Lucas Hubbard. University of California Press, 2023. 258 pages. $24.95/hardcover, paperback, or eBook.

The Black Reparations Project: A Handbook for Racial Justice addresses not only the history behind the need for reparations but also the steps needed to work toward achieving racial justice.

William A. Darity Jr. and Lucas Hubbard, scholars at Duke University’s Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, have partnered with folklorist A. Kirsten Mullen to present a collection of essays examining the background of racial inequality in the United States. Darity and Mullen also show up as authors in four of the ten essays, which are split equally into two parts. Part 1 looks at the greater context and some specific cases for reparations, including unequal housing, educational inequities, and disproportionate healthcare, while part 2 lays out a path to reparations that incorporates related considerations such as community education, civic engagement, and genealogical research. In the introductory section, the three editors recognize that in recent years there has been “a dramatic surge in interest in black reparations” from U.S. political candidates invoking the term while campaigning to activists demanding it in protests around the world:

That interest has carried over to the present, in which more and more racial justice advocates and their allies are proclaiming a desire to pursue a program of redress on behalf of black America. It is, perhaps, an interest in reparations not witnessed since the Reconstruction Era.

Building on momentum from their previous work, Darity, Mullen, and Hubbard brought together members of the reparations research community to “further refine and motivate the case and plan for reparations,” eventually assembling a Reparations Planning Committee to produce this very volume, which they are careful to note is not a “‘consensus document’ per se” but rather “working papers for a new America.”

From slavery to Jim Crow laws, redlining, and unjust policies, the contributors in part 1 address the inequalities faced by Black communities. The moral issue around reparations is heavily emphasized with substantial discussion of the ethics and human rights issues involved. The essays dig into the history of inequality and discuss how to eliminate the disparities that survive in our institutions to this day.

Interestingly, many of the essays approach the topic of reparations through a lens of intersectionality, noting that gender, class, and sexual orientation intersect with race to shape a person’s experience. Not everything is as “simple” as it may seem; no one characteristic can define an individual, as each person is made up of different pieces that collectively form their own unique life. Although we may have some shared experiences, no two people have the exact same experience or perspective.

The basis of part 2 lies in its assessment of not just the need for reparations but the steps involved. The contributors propose ways to finance and establish eligibility criteria, and also offer possible roles the government can play in reparations work. By providing steps and basic framework, this part of the book serves as a guide to help the reader to move past talking about the problem and into taking action.

The main drawback I noticed is that the terminology and discussion may not be user-friendly for all readers, especially those new to the subject. With that in mind, some explanation of terms and concepts used would have been helpful.

The Black Reparations Project is a push for change. The handbook pushes the reader to look at the truths of the past in order to build a more equitable future for all. Quaker values of equality and social justice align with the handbook’s justification of reparations. Quakers, known for their drive for change, can play a role in this movement and in the overall case for social justice.

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Jill Hazel has a bachelor’s degree in social science, a master’s in sociology, a graduate certificate in American history, and a PhD in leadership. She has been teaching in higher education off and on for 20 years and lives in Lafayette, Tenn., with her husband.