Getting to Reparations: Japanese Americans and African Americans

The literature on social movements shows why the Japanese American reparations movement was successful, while the African American reparations movement has had far less success. How the claim is framed is extremely important for a reparations movement. Even though treatment of African Americans in t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social forces 2004-12, Vol.83 (2), p.823-840
Main Authors: HOWARD-HASSMANN, Rhoda E, COATES, Rodney D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African American studies
African Americans
Analysis
Asian Americans
Asian Cultural Groups
Black communities
Citizen participation
Citizens
Civil Rights Legislation
Community Relations
Comparative Analysis
Compensation
Compensation (Remuneration)
Congruence (Psychology)
Descendants
Equality
Human rights
Japanese Americans
Japanese language
Payments
Political sociology
Politics
Property
Public Sociologies: Reparations in the U.S
Race riots
Racial violence
Reparations
Slavery
Slaves
Social Change
Social justice
Social Movements
Social movements. Revolutions
Sociology
Statistical Data
United States of America
Victims
War reparations
World War II
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Summary:The literature on social movements shows why the Japanese American reparations movement was successful, while the African American reparations movement has had far less success. How the claim is framed is extremely important for a reparations movement. Even though treatment of African Americans in the past violated key contemporary precepts such as the importance of bodily integrity, the ideal of equality, and the sanctity of private property, African American claimants encounter several problems. Victims of direct harms are dead, perpetrators are diffuse, some of the actual harms were legal at the time they were committed, and the causal chain of harm is long and complex. Some estimates of reparations due would also impose unreasonable burdens on government and American citizens.
ISSN:0037-7732
1534-7605
DOI:10.1353/sof.2005.0012