Reparations (website)

Last updated
Reparations
Type of site
Compensation for descendants of the Atlantic Slave Trade
Available inEnglish
Created by Natasha Marin
URL diyreparations.me
Launched2016
Current statusinactive

Reparations is an American website which was launched by Seattle-based artist Natasha Marin in order to allow people with privilege to leverage what they can in order to help people of color. [1] [2] Marin has stated that the website is not about reparations for slavery, which Black Lives Matter has called for as part of its platform; Marin's website, which has failed, is an avenue for people to respond to modern racial turmoil in the United States. [3]

Contents

History

In July 2016, Seattle-based artist Natasha Marin launched a social experiment as a Facebook event page. Three days later, the project went viral, [4] gaining international coverage in the Washington Post, [5] LA Times and The Guardian, [6] and expanded to include a website. [7] Framed as a conceptual art project, it was a forum for People of Color to post immaterial or material requests that would improve their lives, and for people of privilege and people who identify as White to offer them contributions and services. [8] [9] A social experiment that was never about “white guilt,” Reparations is a space where Americans, regardless of race, can take ownership of their shared history (NBC News). [10] The project engaged over a quarter of a million people worldwide, some of whom made death threats to Marin. [5] The Reparations project continues to live on through a private Facebook group, “Reparations: Requests and Offerings,” focusing on addressing present-day income inequality, community building, community care, and bringing about much needed healing and repair.

See also

Related Research Articles

Reparations for slavery is the application of the concept of reparations to victims of slavery or their descendants. There are concepts for reparations in legal philosophy and reparations in transitional justice. In the US, reparations for slavery have been both given by legal ruling in court and/or given voluntarily by individuals and institutions.

White guilt is a belief that white people bear a collective responsibility for the harm which has resulted from historical or current racist treatment of people belonging to other ethnic groups, as for example in the context of the Atlantic slave trade, European colonialism, and the genocide of indigenous peoples.

The term "person of color" is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the United States; however, since the 2010s, it has been adopted elsewhere in the Anglosphere, including relatively limited usage in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, South Africa, and Singapore.

White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. With roots in European colonialism and imperialism, and the Atlantic slave trade, white privilege has developed in circumstances that have broadly sought to protect white racial privileges, various national citizenships, and other rights or special benefits.

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Natasha Marin is a Seattle-based conceptual artist, published poet, and activist with roots in Trinidad and Canada, whose work focuses on people, community, and healing. She is best known for her project Reparations (website), for her conceptual art project and book called BLACK IMAGINATION, and for her book “Black Powerful: Black Voices Reimagine Revolution,”.

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References

  1. Ng, David (August 4, 2016). "Artist launches Reparations website and 'social experiment' on white privilege". Los Angeles Times .
  2. Kenney, Tanasia (August 3, 2016). "Black Woman Launches 'Reparations' Site to Allow White People to Atone for Current-Day Racism, Met with Onslaught of Racist Reactions". Atlanta Black Star . Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  3. Radio, Southern California Public (2016-08-03). "On 'Reparations' site, whites can offer help to people of color". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
  4. Bernard, Sara (July 27, 2016). "Reparations Go Viral in Seattle". Seattle Weekly . Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Schmelzer, Elise (August 2, 2016). "New website allows white people to offer reparations directly to people of color". Washington Post . Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  6. Woolf, Nicky (August 4, 2016). "Reparations site asks people to 'offset your privilege' with acts of kindness". The Guardian . Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  7. "Reparations" . Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  8. Weisenstein, Kara (April 26, 2017). "In Seattle, Decolonization Is a Full-Time Gig". Vice . Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  9. Wang, Deborah (July 26, 2016). "Seattle's 'Reparations' experiment is working". KUOW . Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  10. Bailey, Chelsea (November 12, 2016). "After Trump Win, Many Seek Comfort Through 'Reparations' Website". NBC News . Retrieved November 21, 2020.