The Case for Reparations

When people think about reparations, they immediately think about people who have been dead for 100 years.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

The quote from Ta-Nehisi Coates sums up why many Americans are against reparations for people of color. The argument is, “My parents, grandparents, and I had nothing to do with slavery.” But what about more recent injustices, including those previously justified by the war on drugs.

There’s no denying that black people have been arrested and punished in the past few decades for marijuana far more often than white people. And when white people got arrested or were found with marijuana, more often they were released without charges.

We took people of color from their families and locked them up. Once they had criminal records, we denied them scholarships, well-paying jobs, housing, etc. Many spent years in jail and came out hardened and with no prospects. Afterward, they often served long probation sentences and were locked up again for any following infractions, weed-related or not.

After multiple attempts to live a straight life, many learned, it made more sense to commit crimes to support themselves. With a record, minimum wage jobs were often all they could get, and they found you could not live on that amount of money.

Let’s change the narrative

Now that we’re on the verge of legalizing marijuana across the country, it’s time to create policies to use marijuana taxes and revenues to provide social equity to these people and communities. This includes making sure they’re able to make money from these markets instead of wealthy investors and large corporations.

Illinois is the most recent state to legalize cannabis. Their laws include multiple paths to reparations, including some of the suggestions below. And while analysis from Think Progress found there may be flaws found in the legislation, the policies are a significant step towards social justice for their citizens. It’s a great road map for other states to follow.

But in a rush to legalize marijuana, other states left out these components. For them, it will be harder to go back and add them after licenses for businesses have already been set up. But it’s not too late, and there are steps you can take while waiting for any change from elected representatives.

What you can do:

If you live in a state that has legalized marijuana, be selective about the company where you shop. When possible buy from a business that includes social equity in their mission. Support shops owned by minorities or that employ people affected. Or, who donate to programs to help these communities through education and entrepreneur development programs, scholarships, employment assistance, etc. Two organizations pushing the efforts forward are Cage-Free Cannabis and the Hood Incubator.

Make sure your political representatives know that it’s equally essential to erase past criminal histories. Without that component, many are unable to start legal cannabis businesses. They will also still have problems getting jobs, scholarships, and other business licenses.

Lobby and vote for state and federal governments to earmark taxes from marijuana sales as reparations for incarcerations from marijuana use and sales. Family members affected when parents were removed from their homes should also be included.

If you would like more information to understand why we should take these actions, I would encourage you to read the following resources and watch the 2-minute video below:

Starting with this article from Quartz-Weed and Reparations

And the justifications from the Equity First Alliance

Providing money doesn’t begin to make up for taking away years of people’s lives from their homes and families. But it can help them to have a better future.