Providence, Rhode Island is considering a reparations program that would give back to people of African or Indigenous heritage. Today Mayor Jorge Elorza will sign an executive order that begins the process of examining how feasible a reparations program such as this would be. As of right now, there is no actual estimate as to how much this program would cost the city or even how it would work but according to Mayor Elorza, the executive order is the “first step in accepting the role Providence and Rhode Island has held in generations of pain and violence against these residents and healing some of the deepest wounds our country faces today.”
This latest move to consider a reparations program comes just a month after Mayor Elorza signed an executive order to have the word "Plantations" removed from Rhode Island's official state name, which is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Additionally, the executive order would lay out a process where city officials explore and investigate the role that the city and even the state might have played in slavery and genocide. Part of the Mayor's plan is to have this be a first step in what they are calling a "reconciliation process" where the city will publicly acknowledge any injustice that may have taken place.
With that being said, should their be a reparations program? If there is such a program, will that open up the doors for all kinds of other reparations? I think so..Is it right any injustice that might have happened to people with African or Indigenous heritage? Of course not but how does the city, the state, financially handle that kind of cost? Furthermore, how do you prove who deserves reparations? Also, just because you are related to someone down the family tree that might have experienced injustice, does that entitle you to compensation? What is the criteria? What if you are a very established, wealthy individual who has had no setbacks in your life but your great grandfather experienced injustice, should you be given compensation? I don't think so but that's just me. It's one thing to give compensation to those individuals that DIRECTLY experienced injustice but to have that injustice be accepted generations down the line, I'm not really in favor of that. I understand people will disagree with me but if I was in charge of making that decision, I would vote no. If you were the individual who experienced a major set back and injustice then sure but not just because you are related to people who did. With that being said, I believe in equal opportunity for all and I'd like to think we live in a time that offers that so unless there is currently some hindrance on a select group of people that does not allow them to succeed or be given equal opportunity based on current law or societal guidelines, there is no reason for reparations at this time. What do you think?
-Producer Lightning