by Monique Finley

Created on: February 14, 2008

Reparations. Certain events through out history left people, parties, and governments (both local and national) owing reparations because of wrongs committed. Wrongs range in severity, as a result the variety of reparations are wide, thus beyond the scope of this article. One thing which must be remembered: reparations will never erase wrong doing. At some point one needs to ask the question: with all the wrongs committed in the world can amends every truly be made? Follow with this question: who should decide when reparations are to be made and to what extent?

In America the local, state and federal courts decide. When World War II ended defeated countries were forced to pay war reparations to the victors and the victims, some countries are still paying. After the American Civil War reparations were supposed to be given to freed slaves, unfortunately, those freed slaves died before anything remotely similar could happen. Native Americans receive reparations for the injustices which plagued their people (though I doubt Reservations in barren land is fair compensation). The list goes on and includes those individuals who have sued tobacco companies for cancer, as well as those suing pharmaceutical companies for wrongful deaths.

Reparations are a necessary part of civilization. Though I wonder at what point reparations stop being a form of amends and start being used as a cop out. As such the question becomes: should there be a statute of limitations for seeking reparations? One might also ask: should reparations be given to one whose ancestors were wronged? In my opinion, there should be a statute of limitations for reparations. Due to the simple fact, people who did not exist at the time of wrong doing should not be held responsible, nor forced to give reparations. I am my mother's daughter. I am not my mother, therefore, any wrong doing committed by her is not my responsibility. In this sense, wrongs committed by the deceased cannot/should not penalize living descendants.

If every person on earth claimed reparations for crimes committed against their ancestors, then I'm fairly certain every person on earth would be entitled to compensation. Every person alive today has a long line of women who bore every ancestor up to the present generation. Women have the longest history of wrongs committed against them. Now, realistically speaking, it is absurd to claim every person alive deserves compensation for the thousands of years of crimes against women.

Perhaps, the best policy all should adopt for reparations is a statute of limitations lasting the course of the lifetimes of both the wrong doer and the wronged. In the case of individuals, if the wrong doer dies prior to the wronged receiving reparations, then the wronged would receive no compensation. For both businesses and governments, I suggest the person or persons seeking reparations must do so within the lifetime of the wronged; unless, seeking reparations for "wrongful death," in which case the immediate family of the person who died would have the right to compensation. If the policy were as such, people generations later would have no claim.

(Note: The hardest part of life is surviving. No one born into this world is owed anything. Life, itself, is the gift we each receive. To think otherwise is a mistake. Rather than harping on wrongs committed by people who are long dead, perhaps we should put our heads together to fix the wrongs which are still being committed today.)

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