Some of us have been worried for years that the movement for black reparations, which henceforth has mostly concentrated on demands for money from large institutions, might develop in the direction of a movement to contest land titles in the South and elsewhere, with hugely destructive results. Now comes word of the “Reclamation Of Southern Assets, or ROSA, project“, funded in part by a Congressional Black Caucus initiative. Here’s a bulletin from Chicago:

From noon to 3 p.m. on June 11, six law students from DePaul and five from Southern universities will listen to stories from forgotten heirs. They will review documents and compile information needed to research claims. Over the next eight weeks, these future lawyers will arm themselves with deeds and titles….Besides helping Chicagoans sort through their land claims, the ROSA project allows law students to get a jump on their careers.

Ray Waters, an instructor at DePaul’s College of Law, “hopes the ROSA project will result in legislation that will make it easier for heirs in Chicago to bring suit in federal court against relatives in the South”. Wait a minute — suing relatives? Well, that’s a second and perhaps unexpected dimension to the story: although much of the political rhetoric concentrates on the misdeeds of white owners and businesses, it turns out that a large share of the land grudges that preoccupy displaced black Southerners are against their own kin. (Mary Mitchell, “Reclaiming land may be bigger than reparations”, Chicago Sun-Times, Jun. 5; “Shady down-South stuff”, Feb. 20).

Filed under: reparations