Restitution and Reparations
Reparations initiatives include efforts to redress past wrongs through land and economic reforms.
District Six in South Africa is a powerful example of a successful effort by a community to reclaim their land. Because the land was never developed, it was possible to transfer the land back to the original residents.
Reparations efforts are often fought through the courts. Sometimes, however, a truth commission provides the information that builds the case for reparations. Currently, there is an effort underway at Brown University in Rhode Island to look into the role that Brown played in slavery. Brown’s President has appointed a commission, the Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, to investigate this history and to make recommendations following the investigation.
District Six in South Africa is a powerful example of a successful effort by a community to reclaim their land. Because the land was never developed, it was possible to transfer the land back to the original residents.
Reparations efforts are often fought through the courts. Sometimes, however, a truth commission provides the information that builds the case for reparations. Currently, there is an effort underway at Brown University in Rhode Island to look into the role that Brown played in slavery. Brown’s President has appointed a commission, the Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, to investigate this history and to make recommendations following the investigation.
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(Germany)
After the war, the Allies had to deal not only with questions of guilt and innocence but also with questions of restitution. What claims did the victims have on the perpetrators? On Germany itself?
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(South Africa)
Sixty thousand non-white residents were removed from District Six, an historically mixed neighborhood in Cape Town, South Africa, following the 1966 Group Areas Act. Former residents Linda Fortune and Noor Ebrahim remember their old neighborhood.
