Reparations can be framed to conservatives as anti-big-government accountability

Evidence

Our early focus groups excluded those who identified as very conservative, who strongly agree that “structural racism is not a major problem in the United States,” and who express other strong beliefs about race, including that racism happens at an individual level and there is no current need to address it. I believe there is a winning message that will resonate with some conservatives: Without the governmental discrimination faced by black Americans, they would not need monetary assistance. Felix Haywood’s vision would have become a reality. Recall that reparation payments to Japanese Americans garnered significant conservative support, as did the Indian Claims Commission. To provide reparations now would serve as a monument against intrusive big government that told an entire race of people where they could live, who they could marry, which homes they were allowed to buy, and which colleges they might attend. The government must be held accountable. — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 508

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘monument against intrusive big government’ reframe is a counter-narrative worth weighing against the conservative objections the reader must be able to state. Connects to the Japanese-American redress precedent.