REPARATIONS

December 8, 2014

Reference: http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/27/opinion/liu-reparations-slavery/

Subject: An Educational Approach to Reparations

To AAN Staff and Scholars Across the Nation

The only means whereby I can see African Americans (as well as other ethnic groups) may claim reparations is by reflecting on their public high school system(s) and assessing their educational journey. If the journey shows that one was denied a quality high school education that would have prepared one to advance after high school with no fault of the student and the external social structures of course, one should be able to file a case with the state and/or U.S. government to obtain reparations not for slavery but for being denied a quality education.

Quality education may include but is not limited to current applicable classroom instructions at the time of enrollment, personal assistance from academic counselors, and adequate/safe learning facilities and nutritional foods. Consider the impact or outcome: Academic counselors engaging in no assistance or the misplacement of students in nonessential higher educational systems, such as referring students who rate above average to community colleges and the enlisted rank systems instead of Tier 1 colleges and military academies.

Public educational systems have a duty to prepare the
youth to transition into society as productive citizens.

Reparations may be calculated based upon the starting salary of a recent high school graduate/non graduate in a certain era to the current economic wage scales to include a 40-hour work week. Governmental systems, therefore, may be tasked with considering, exploring, orchestrating, and implementing this type of reparation system to include (a) developing forms that individual applicants can complete to consider and (b) establishing a central financial center whereby payments will be processed and distributed. If governmental systems are aware of a school system that performed inadequately within a certain era, those graduates/non graduates as a cohort should qualify although each should submit his/her experiences individually to document and to obtain a better understanding of his/her impact/outcome.

Respectfully submitted,

Dr. Brenda Nelson-Porter, CEO and Founder
Alumni Association Network (AAN)

bcc: U.S. Department of Education