Reparations for the descendants of African slaves in America Slavery has been intertwined with American history since Dutch traders brought twenty captive Africans to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 Slavery in America is a topic with minimal truth and rarely told stories. The public school system ignores the fact that eight of the first twelve American presidents were large slaveholders. Emancipation brought freedom, but not rapprochement. The civil rights movement killed Jim Crow, but shadows remained. Affirmative Action has created opportunities, but racism continues. So why shouldn't the great-grandchildren of those who worked for free and were deprived of education and held in slavery be compensated? Why should American taxpayers who never owned slaves pay for the sins of ancestors they don't even know? You ask one question and it leads to another. How would the economy be affected? How do you put a price on over two centuries of legalized inhumanity? In what form would reparations be paid? How would you determine who is a descendant? Questions start debates. Merriam Webster's dictionary defines reparations as the act of making amends for a wrong. Also included in the definition is money paid by a defeated nation as compensation for damage caused during hostilities. It is essential to place the request for reparations within a framework of law and justice. The following four propositions are truths that attempt to conceptualize a legal framework for the formulation and prosecution of compensation claims. First, the evil enslavement of Africans was a crime against humanity. Second, domestic and international law recognizes that those who commit crimes against humanity must...... middle of paper ......ington, DC: US ​​Government Printing Office.Gifford, A. (1993). Legal Arguments in Support of Reparations: First Pan-African Reparations Congress. Federal Republic of Nigeria.Mazrui, A. (1998). Black reparations in a conservative world of racial aspirations and political realities. New York: Global Publications.Rhone, S. (2000, January 28). America's debt to blacks. The Post Dispatch,pC1.Robinson, R. (1999). Debt: What America Owes Black People. New York: Dutton.Ruble, R. (2000, February 4). Riot repairs are called for. The Associated Press, p.B1.Saul, M. (1997, June 30). US legislation could pay descendants. The Dallas Morning News, p.C2. Westley, R. (1998, December). Many billions gone. Boston College Law Review, XL, 11.