Universities Involvement in Slavery

Part 1: Reparations

By Des Jean’ae

A debatable advertisement titled “Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Slavery are a

Bad Idea and Racist, too.” published by David Horowitz in Spring 2001, stirred up a

cultural war amongst students of color and universities involvement in slavery. This idea

caused a heated debate between students and faculty, leading institutions to be held

accountable. Universities have recently been questioned about their involvement in

slavery, and how they plan on making reparations to those they enslaved and built

tremendous wealth from. Throughout history, reparations for slavery have been a

sensitive subject to which raises these questions: who should be held accountable for

fixing the damages made by slavery and how will the government determine what

descendants will reap the benefits? Horowitz shared the ideology that today’s society

shouldn’t have to pay for the mistakes made by their ancestors. He expressed his belief

that the Civil War has been over long time and African Americans have had opportunities

to prosper, while “most of today’s Americans bear no responsibility for slavery or the Jim

Crow laws” (Brophy, 196).

The United States has had many chances to atone for slavery but has denied

African Americans an equal opportunity to build generational wealth. Slavery has been said to be

one of the most brutal periods in history where slaves were owned, tortured, and forced to work

hard labor for little to nothing. The ideology of the American Dream coaxed people into believing

that there was a better life for them in the United States, and if they wanted to start a business,

buy a house, or bear fruit, all they had to do was work hard and get a higher education (Ray and

Perry). However, many of these opportunities were deceiving and created larger gaps between the

wealth and education of White and Black Americans. History proves that reparations aren’t

unrealistic, many racial groups have been uncompensated in the past, due to the brutal

uprooting of their people. Reparations can be defined as “a system of redress for egregious

injustices” (Ray and Perry). Some examples of racial groups who were repaid include Native

Americans, Japanese Americans, and Holocaust survivors. Due to their circumstances, they

received compensation in the form of large funds and/or acres of land. Native Americans were

forced out of the land of their ancestors. They received land and billions of dollars for

various benefits and programs. For Japanese Americans, if you were interned during

World War 2, you were paid $1.5 billion dollars. Holocaust survivors were also amongst

the groups who received support, this came from the United States as part of the Marshal

Plan where various investments were made to help ensure reparations were paid. (Ray

and Perry). Even though this proves reparations have been given out in the past, it fails to

understand the lack of amends the United States has made for their participation in

slavery, reminding us that there are still unpaid reparations in many forms that need to be

taken accountable.

Along with the government, Universities have played a vital role in transporting and using

African Americans as slaves to serve its faculty and students. Several American universities played

a role in their involvement in slavery during the early stages of establishment. As stated by Wilder

in 2013, “The academy never stood apart from American slavery- in fact, it stood beside church

and state as the third pillar of the civilization built on bondage”. Though many universities down

talk the establishment of their institutions, a mass amount of wealth was built on the enslavement

of African Americans. Which was impending for the growth, existence, and overall profit of the

institutions. Francis Wayland was the president of Brown University during the antebellum

period, where he also played a vital role as an antislavery advocate. During his lifetime, him and

other advocates worked diligently to fight alongside other institutions who were against slavery

(Brophy, 205). Even though most of Brown’s history was optimistic, the committee found that

both those who sold slaves and opposed slaves were a part of their complex past. In 1838, the

university officials at Georgetown University sold 272 enslaved African Americans to guarantee

their future success financially. This inflicted votes from students that suggested Georgetown

University should pay dues in the form of reparations to the descendants of those they enslaved.

Despite a small group of institutions such as “the University of Alabama, Wake Forest University,

Georgetown University, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Davidson College” (Garibay, Mathis, and West, 5),

willing to acknowledge and redress the sale of slaves and their immense labor that ultimately built

the elite foundation of these universities on a global spectrum. The expansion of opportunities is

crucial in revitalizing racial disparities among African Americans. Reparations that come in the

form of opportunities can help reconcile the traumatizing past of individuals, organizations, and

societies to allow them to properly function and obtain equity and justice.

In order to have better relations with students of color and allow them equal

opportunities, Universities need to take accountability and address “racial disparities in

education” (Ray, Perry) and atone descendants of slaves subjected to harsh labor. Several

enticing points from historian professor John Hope Franklin at Duke University, were

used to accurately respond to Horowitz advertisement. Noting the benefits were

profitable to southern planters and merchants during slavery. In Horowitz response to

some Universities, he singled out the participation of the faculty, administrators, and the

students, ultimately dedicating his writing to attack the integrity of Universities

throughout the Century (Brophy).Minor arguments were made by Horowitz, but he stood

his ground that he believes slaves had more rights than Franklin acknowledged. Christian

Whites played a large role in the abolishment of slavery and Horowitz makes it clear that

due to their enforcements, African Americans should be more aware of the sacrifices

made by devout Christians. He even goes as far as, imposing that African Americans

should owe Christian White money. Slavery is a brutal era that was “imposed on African

Americans by Whites”, which Horowitz fails to acknowledge.