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 

