Today, the debate over reparations--whether African-Americans should be compensated for decades of racial subjugation--stands as the most racially divisive issue in American politics. In this short, definitive work, Alfred L. Brophy, an expert on racial violence, regards the debate over reparations from the 1700s to the present, examining the arguments on both sides of the current debate. Taking us inside litigation and legislatures past and present, examining failed and successful lawsuits, and reparations actions by legislatures, newspapers, schools, and businesses, including apologies and truth commissions, this book offers a valuable historical and legal perspective for reparations advocates and critics alike.

The book should prove useful for advanced history courses. * Mary Frances Berry, The Journal of American History *

Alfred L. Brophy is Professor of Law at the University of Alabama. He is the author of Reconstructing the Dreamland: The Tulsa Riot of 1921: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation and Book Reviews Editor of Law and History Review. He contributed to the report to the Tulsa Race Riot Commission, a body created by the Oklahoma Legislature to investigate the riot and make recommendations for reparations. Brophy has appeared on CNN's News Night with Aaron Brown, NBC Nightly News, NPR's "Fresh Air," the "Tavis Smiley Show," and "Talk of the Nation," and has been quoted in such newspapers as the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Post.