Paying Its Dues

As Cose writes, “The problem is not that black Americans never got forty acres (and a mule); it is that so much was taken and so little given that impoverishment and despair became self-perpetuating… One need only make a decision that a damaged community, whatever the cost, must be restored (502-503).” Cose believes that the poor treatment of minorities and the poor decisions made by state officials have undermined America. Failing to compensate those who have been hurt has lead to a distrust of the American legal system and government. When, in 2003, the descendants of the survivors of the 1921 Tulsa riot were denied compensation for property damage and the like, these survivors felt rightly cheated and forgotten. Many of the actual survivors of this riot were dead or were falling ill; their descendants felt that the Oklahoma state government owed them money. They felt cheated because the Japanese-Americans harassed during World War II were eventually awarded settlement claims for their mistreatment. The black Tulsa residents had certainly been mistreated during and after the riot. By admitting one problem but denying another, the government, state and national alike, had failed. Cose thinks that those who have been mistreated should receive compensation, for if these debts are not paid, the events that lead to the mistreatment will be forgotten. Although the American government did not fully pay back every Japanese survivor and descendant of the World War II encampments, what was given to these people was still important. Indeed, when, in 1990, the American government admitted its mistake and began repaying its Japanese-American citizens, General Richard Thornburgh exclaimed, “‘By finally admitting a wrong, a nation does not destroy its integrity, but rather reinforces the sincerity of its commitment to the Constitution, and hence to its people. In forcing us to reexamine our history, you have made us only stronger and more proud (494).'” When the American government compensated its wronged Japanese citizens, a trust in its rule was reestablished among these citizens. However, black community wondered about its compensation for its mistreatment. America cannot admit one problem but forget another. Cose wants all wronged people to receive American money to strengthen trust in America’s government and to even out the disadvantages given to these wronged people. When America pays its wronged citizens, it admits its mistakes, allowing it to learn and move forward towards towards a more united nation.