Eric Yamamoto Discusses Reparations in the U.S.

Eric Yamamoto is a University of Hawaii Law School professor, an author, and a scholar. Yamamoto spoke at Facing History and Ourselves' 1997 Human Rights and Justice conference, "Collective Violence and Memory: Judgment, Reconciliation, Education." In this video clip, Yamamoto poses some critical questions around reparations, specifically in regards to the history of the U.S.
Transcript: 
"How do Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, African, Jewish, Japanese Americans, all of us, all of us in the United States, how do we assess calls for reparations? Here at home and throughout the world? I suggest we could start by not doing certain things. We could not simply measure or simply assume that we know the effects of reparations in any given situation. We could instead pursue and respond to reparation claims only after careful interrogation...We could ask, Will the reparations foster reconciliation through justice, or will they simply continue to divide?...Will reparations result in positive alteration on societal institutions?...We could ask whether reparations will be but one step in a larger movement to redress wrongs committed against all groups in our society?"
Video length: 
01 min 37 sec
Date filmed: 
Apr 10 1997