Students at Georgetown University are considering paying reparations for slaves that Georgetown University sold more than 180 years ago.
Earlier this month, the Georgetown student government authorized a campus-wide student referendum that will ask students to establish a fund for the descendants of these 272 slaves. If the referendum passes, a fee would be collected each semester, starting in the fall of 2020.
The semesterly fee proposed is $27.20 per student “in honor of the 272 people sold by Georgetown,” according to the student government resolution approving the referendum, obtained by the College Fix.
Students receiving financial aid will be able to opt out of the reparations payments, according to student news outlet the Hoya.
The student government resolution approving the campus-wide referendum passed by a vote of 20 in favor and four against.
“It’s manifestly Georgetown University’s obligation to make financial commitments regarding its legacy with slavery, not student’s,” student senator Evan Farraras said at the senate meeting. “Additionally, student money should only be used towards student’s purposes, even if non-student purposes are meaningful, as in today’s referendum.”
Farraras hits the nail on the head. Whether or not you support reparations in some form, it makes little sense to force members of Genearation Z to pay up while they also incur wild amounts of debt to obtain an education.
There are merits to systemic support systems for those affected by racism in all forms, but the direct transfer of wealth from 19-year-olds to the several-generations-later descendants of slaves makes little sense at all. And frankly, this plan does not provide any justice, either.
The campus-wide vote will take place in April. It will be interesting to see if students willingly give up their own hard-earned money for such a cause, as opposed to more popular plans like “taxing the rich.”
Alexander James is a contributor to Red Alert Politics and a freelance journalist.
