The Idea of Reparations
Imagine being out in the fields hunting with your father. It has been a long day and a spitted warthog hangs between you. All of a sudden you are ambushed! An enemy tribe attacks you and your father. You fight using your makeshift spear but are overwhelmed by the number of tribesmen. You are hit in the head with a rock and fall unconscious. When you wake you are being loaded into a great wooden monster. You cringe in fear as you and your fellow captives are herded into this great wooden beast. You scream in protest at the white men who have chained you but they just beat you on the head with their rifles. You are taken into a dark and disgusting hold. The prisoners next to you are screaming in fear. The smell of waste and vomit permeates everything. As a white man chains you down below you think of your family and realize you are never going to see them again. Sleep comes slowly because of the cries of pain and misery; the rocking of the floor eventually puts you to sleep. A long time has passed. Your days consist of sleeping in your own filth, eating a disgusting porridge, and rarely seeing outside your hold. But one day the hold is opened and bright light blinds you. You are lifted to your weakened legs and led outside. The land is alien to you, and white men are everywhere. You are paraded in front of a great throng of white people. The humiliation is great as you are poked and inspected. Eventually you are shackled and loaded onto a horse-drawn cart. The ride is long and uncomfortable and the destination more frightening. You have no idea what is going to happen to you and are very much afraid. You come to a great house and are taken to the fields around the house. You are given into the custody of a great white brute. He puts you into a small cottage with other black men. You have a very difficult time understanding their languages but eventually they get a message across to you: You are a slave, and will live the rest of your days as one. This horrific