Whether or not to pay reparations to African-Americans became quite the hot topic during the Democratic primaries, but it turns out the candidates weren’t thinking broadly enough. The Nation has introduced us to the idea of vote reparations, which would “empower us to replace oppressive institutions with life-affirming structures of equality.”
Vote reparations would create possibilities to build what W.E.B. Du Bois called “abolition democracy,” or the practice of achieving a racially just society. Abolition democracy invites us to engage with abolition not as a finite goal but as a radical process of challenging injustices wherever and in whatever form they might appear. Vote reparations would empower us to replace oppressive institutions with life-affirming structures of economic, social, and political equality. And if our elected representatives did not prioritize this transformational work, we could vote them out.
Because white votes currently count more than Black ones, double-counting Black votes would restore electoral balance. Vote reparations would be a giant step toward remedying our nation’s long history of denying and devaluing Black votes. To address systemic racism, we must transform how we choose our government. Even if vote reparations aren’t instituted, Black voters will keep tirelessly dragging our states toward a more perfect union. But just imagine our country if our votes counted twice.
We’re imagining it, and it sounds like a horrible idea.
I don't think advocating for systemic racism would be in the best interest of the country, no.
— Firedog, Ph.D. (@DoctorBarkanine) December 19, 2020
If it wasn’t for Planned Parenthood they would have double the voters.
— Nurse Patriot-President Elect (@LABeachGal1) December 19, 2020
We have clearly sent too many low IQ people to college and it will ultimately be our undoing. pic.twitter.com/PpFWn6uRA9
— TwittahQuittah (@TwittahQ) December 19, 2020
