The church should be leading the reparations effort because the slaves ships that came over here that were led by people who were calling themselves Christians.
The Reparations Pastor Eric Mason Believe Need to Happen
Mason explained reparations have to be “comprehensive because the offenses were everything from emotional to economic [and] the gospel demands that we do that.” He said that reparations should first include public confession and repentance for the active and compliant role in destroying black people…”I think the church needs to start this off, just as Nehemiah did in his day. Praying and asking for forgiveness for sins he didn’t commit specifically, but benefited off of.” The next reparation should be “admitting that racial injustice still exists and needs to be addressed.” The third addresses the need for physiological reparations: “Admitting slavery still affects us. You need to pay for counseling for us, we need help!” The next was the need for economic reparations, “We need an economist to help so it’s restorative, and not just us throwing money at people. Having a land initiative and housing initiative.” The last one is educational reparations, “Investing what has lacked in economics in schools and black communities.”
HBCU Funded for the Next 200 Years
Dr. Mason thinks that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) should be funded for the next 200 years. Additionally, he believes descendants of slaves should not have to pay for college for the next 200 years. Reparations should also include cancelling every black person’s student loan debt and repaying the blacks who have already paid for their student loans. His next reparation was “telling the history properly…so [black] people won’t look crazy when we bring up our racial past.” Dr. Mason gave an example of how he’d like to see that happen, which included black churches receiving faith-based funding so that they could build black institutions in the black community, “because the black church has always been the mainstay of helping black people do that for the last 250 years.”
We need reparations to repair. We’re not asking for a handout. Black people have built this country from the beginning. Black people have made America…and it’s just time to begin compensating black people comprehensively for what’s been left out over time.
Jesus Will Bring Peace on Earth
“Now I’m not saying reparations will bring peace on earth, Jesus will bring peace on earth,” Mason said as he closed. He concluded by exhorting everyone listening to move forward in this great act that he calls “Restorative Justice.”
See the following article for an alternative perspective on this topic:
Voddie Baucham: Why Critical Race Theory Is a ‘Looming Catastrophe’
