Reparations, by Duke L. Kwon, Gregory Thompson

 Reparations by Duke L. Kwon


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This book makes a theological case for why the American Christian church should lead the effort to provide reparations for the historical and continuing oppression of African Americans. The book maintains that reparations are a fundamental part of love and justice as illustrated in the New Testament parable of Zacchaeus and the Good Samaritan. The church's goal should be to repair past harms as a means toward relational and communal healing.

Though the primary arguments of the book are theological it does frame it within stories from history. For example, the book begins and ends with references to the story of former slave Jourdon Anderson and the letter he wrote to his former master who had asked that he return to help restore operations at his plantation. The letter in reply asked that 32 years of past wages first be paid (i.e. restitution). 

The need for reparations as described in this book is expansive while the steps toward achieving restoration are generally nonspecific. Unsurprisingly, the reader is left with the chore of figuring out practical ways to start from where they are, to go toward doing what they can do, to achieve progress toward restoration of justice and community.

For a secular approach to the subject of reparations, see my review of Getting to Reparations: How Building a Different America Requires a Reckoning with Our Past, by by Dorothy A. Brown.

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