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58 N.Y.U. Ann. Surv. Am. L. 447 (2001-2003)
A Dream Revived: The Rise of the Black Reparations Movement

handle is hein.journals/annam58 and id is 467 raw text is: A DREAM REVIVED: THE RISE OF THE BLACK REPARATIONS MOVEMENT F MICHAEL HIGGINBOTHAM* It is a pleasure to provide an introduction for a conference on the black reparations movement for two reasons. First, much has been written recently about the rise of the black reparations move- ment and the theoretical aspects of black reparations,' but there has been little focus on comparative or practical considerations. This symposium issue helps to fill that gap. Second, and even more significant, in order to fulfill its true spirit, America of the twenty-first century must uphold principles of justice and fairness. Whether one is for or against black repara- tions, questions of justice and fairness are central to a resolution of issues contained in the reparations debate. That is why this sympo- sium, and others like it, are so important. It has been said that a dream deferred will eventually just shrivel up like a raisin in the sun.2 But thanks to the black repara- tions movement, the dream of compensation and restitution for en- slavement is still very much alive. Begun during the Civil War, the black reparations movement ceased to command serious attention from political leaders between the end of Reconstruction in 1876 and the rise of the modern civil rights movement during the 1960s, though several other substantial reparations movements developed * Professor of Law, University of Baltimore; Adjunct Professor of Law, New York University. B.A., 1979, Brown University; J.D., 1982, Yale University; LL.M., 1985, Cambridge University. The author is grateful to BarbaraJones for secretarial assistance and to Maurice Williams for research and editorial assistance. 1. See, e.g., RANDALL ROBINSON, THE DEBT (2000) (offering a theoretical pro- posal for reparations to African Americans); Alfred L. Brophy, Some Conceptual and Legal Problems in Reparations for Slavery, 58 N.Y.U. ANN. SuRv. Am. L. 497 (2003) (discussing the wealth of recent scholarship on reparations). 2. This statement refers to Langston Hughes's famous poem, Harlem, which begins: What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? L\NGSTON HUGHES, COLLECTED POEMS OF LANGSTON HUGHES 363 (Arnold Ramper- sad and David Roessel eds., Vintage Classics 1995). 447 Imaged with the Permission of N.Y.U. Annual Survey of American Law

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