Heirs of Oppression

Racism and Reparations

By (author) Angelo J. Corlett

Publication date:

16 November 2010

Length of book:

1 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442208148

Packing his case with moral argument and relevant facts, Angelo Corlett offers the most comprehensive defense to date in favor of reparations for African Americans and American Indians. As Corlett see it, the heirs of oppression are both the descendants of the oppressors and the descendants of their victims. Corlett delves deeply into the philosophically related issues of collective responsibility, forgiveness and apology, and reparations as a human right in ways that no other book or article to date has done. He recommends specific policies and tests the basic arguments of this book with a lengthy chapter considering several objections to the line of reasoning grounding the project.

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 Introduction
Chapter 3 Chapter 1: Reparations
Chapter 4 PART 1: Utilitarian Approaches to Reparations
Chapter 5 Chapter 2: Cosmopolitanism and Compensatory Justice
Chapter 6 Chapter 3: Utilitarianism and Historical Injustice
Chapter 7 PART 2: A Rights-Based Approach to Reparations
Chapter 8 Chapter 4: Reparations as a Human Right
Chapter 9 Chapter 5: Collective Responsibility and Reparations
Chapter 10 Chapter 6: Reparations to American Indians
Chapter 11 Chapter 7: Reparations to Blacks
Chapter 12 Chapter 8: Reparations and Reconciliation
Chapter 13 Chapter 9: Possible Reparations Policies
Chapter 14 PART 3: Challenges to Reparations
Chapter 15 Chapter 10: Objections to Reparations, and Replies
Chapter 16 Conclusion
Chapter 17 Bibliography
Chapter 18 Index.

Too many Americans (laypersons and scholars) have historical amnesia when it comes to racial oppression. Angelo Corlett?s new text, Heirs of Oppression, does not suffer this shortcoming. Corlett skillfully draws on some of the best thinking by historians, legal scholars, social scientists, and philosophers to construct a novel theory of reparations in response to a history of racial injustice. The book will stand as the canonical defense of a rights-based account of reparations. Heirs of Oppression is a rich and rewarding book. Anyone working on race, social justice, and political philosophy in general will benefit from it. This book is a must read for anyone who is genuinely interested in issues of moral repair...