As idea of reparations gains broader support, controversy arises over how to put into practice

Due South

Reparations for past harms to Black people is a concept that many Americans have come to support, but how to put the idea into practice has become complicated and controversial.

Sala Menaya-Merritt, Director of Equity and Inclusion for the City of Asheville, talks with co-host Leoneda Inge about the efforts of Asheville’s Community Reparations Commission and the challenges they've faced as they try to provide redress for Black community members.

Then, Leoneda talks with economist Dr. William ("Sandy") Darity and writer A. Kirsten Mullen about their research on the direct connection between slavery and today’s racial wealth gap, and how reparations from the federal government are essential to our country’s reckoning with our past and present. They are two of the editors of The Black Reparations Project: A Handbook for Racial Justice.

Guests

Sala Menaya-Merritt, Director, Equity and Inclusion, City of Asheville

William A. (“Sandy”) Darity Jr., Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy, Professor of African and African American Studies and Professor of Economics, Duke University

A. Kirsten Mullen, writer, folklorist, museum consultant, and lecturer whose work focuses on race, art, history, and politics