Reparations are symbolic, and it’s usually a small amount. I a, all for it, but I believe they should be paid not to individuals, but instead invest in African American schools and infrastructures in good faith.

No, this is dumb. Every race/ethnic group has been enslaved at some point. I'd be on the receiving end of this and I'd reject any type of handout. We missed this one as the direct victims of slavery are all dead, now, so- too late.

@William It's not tough, and they were never "promised" that in any official capacity. That's like saying blacks today have been "promised" a Federal Department of Anti-Racism just because some nutjob like Kendi dreamt up the idea and wrote about it. They argue they suffer because of generational wealth gaps and many blacks are born poor. Well, there's no right to "not be born poor," so your rights aren't violated at all. There are poor whites born, too. Being born poor is not a violation of rights, so no black child born today has been wronged through slavery. Doesn't matter if you "would have been born richer" if your great-grandfather wasn't enslaved. Your rights don't start until birth/conception/whatever you want to believe. I'm sure I'd have "been born richer" if my great granddaddy was the King of England, too, but that's simply not something I'm entitled to. That said, I do think we should improve our educational system and justice system, in a matter that benefits all races and our entire society, and that allows for greater social mobility for the underprivileged people who show that they truly are willing to work hard to develop incredible talents and make huge contributions to our society. Not in a racial manner that is retribution towards the white man. Seems like no one wants to have that conversation though and they want to make it a partisan, race-war issue, so fine, suit yourself - half the country won't cooperate with that and you can live with all the problems of our society until you want to play nice.

Its tough, they weren't paid as promised with 40 acres and a mule. But who gets the payments as people would need to prove their relation to a former slave, and also how many generations? Like do the grandparents get it? Does every person of that family? Is it lump sum?

The main seller of slaves was black. How are they not mad at him? Zero reparations. If you go back far enough nearly everyone has a slave history. Total copout.

The world has enslaved each other all over the place in the past. What does that have to do with present-day and why would somebody receive a payment from other people whether their ancestors were also slaves or not through the mechanism of taxes and the government? As a notion or political thing it implies a coercive demand with equally and implied threat that people can't get along unless there's some 'pay up' thing. Why should people who haven't done anything pay anything? Forget it.

Does everyone who is descended from a slave owner have to pay reparations? What about a black person whose ancestor owned slaves, does he still receive reparations or owe it to other blacks? Does it cancel out? What about whites who immigrated here after slavery ended and thus no one in their family ever owned slaves in the U.S., must they pay reparations?

I think this needs a bit more context. While slavery ended in the US 150 years ago, there have still been systemic issues against black people since then. Like, my parents and grandparents, who are still living, were alive when segregation was legal. I think something should be done, but I couldn't tell you what. I don't think that a blind cash dump is going to fix the problems.

My ancestors were enslaved by the Romans. I want me some payback!

If you are speaking about African American slaves in the US, I would be happy to pay reparations to any of them still alive. But I'm certainly not going to pay people because their ancestors were slaves. Mine were too, but I'm not demanding the German government pay me anything.