White opposition to reparations rests on desert, not cost

Evidence

The political scientist Tatishe M. Nteta, Provost Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has also conducted polling around reparations and observes, “When we ask people why they oppose, it’s not about the cost. It’s not about logistics. It’s not about the impossibility to place a monetary value on the impact of slavery. It is consistently this notion that the descendants of slaves do not deserve these types of reparations.” — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 510

Categorization

• SEED: The core objection Brown must answer turns out to be about desert judgments, not fiscal practicalities — reframing the whole rebuttal strategy around deservingness.
• XREF: Connects to ‘Complaints About Immodesty’ angle of moral judgment masking class/identity politics, and echoes Milgrom’s point that reputation/desert logic drives group behavior.