quietlyradical

African American movie director, Spike Lee provocatively named his production company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks. Sadly, as a result of attempts to erase all references to race and injustice from American history at all levels, I suspect that there are many people who do not know what this name is actually referring to. “40 acres and a mule” was a colloquial reference to a field order issued by General William Tecumseh Sherman at the end of the Civil War in which land confiscated from Confederate loyalists was to be redistributed to newly freed slave along with surplus army mules that the formerly enslaved people could use to work their newly acquired land. However, once Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, President Andrew Johnson reversed Sherman’s order and the question of reparations for the enslavement of African Americans has remained unresolved ever since.

However, what if reparations didn’t mean a check? What if, for some African Americans, reparations meant something much simpler: the financial ability to leave?

America has spent centuries asking Black Americans to endure, struggle, adapt, forgive, and remain hopeful. Even so, the contemporary political climate is causing many Americans to question whether they want to remain in this country. The Trump-MAGA era has definitely intensified this question for people of color, not only immigrants, but also the native born. From my vantage point, it appears as though the Trump Administration and the MAGA loyalists are doing everything possible to send the message to non-white individuals regardless of citizenship or immigration status that we are unwanted in this country. That being the case, why couldn’t one form of reparation be assistance in leaving the country?

While some might find this to be a very cynical point of view, I want to stress that I didn’t always feel this way. I was born one year before the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and throughout my early years I genuinely believed that America was changing for the better. However, since Trump was first elected in 2016 there has been a marked uptick in racial hostility, political polarization, attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and a roll back of civil rights. Racist rhetoric has become normalized with the most rabid of MAGA supporters becoming increasingly comfortable with telling people of color that we do not belong. Additionally, the President of the United States seems bound and determined to thwart the Constitution itself, leading to real fears about the continuation of democracy and freedom in this country. The stress related to this is simply exhausting. Nevertheless, let me be clear that desiring the freedom to leave is NOT the same thing as hating America. I just don’t believe that anyone should be forced to stay in a place where they are so clearly not wanted.

So, what, exactly, are reparations? Traditionally, reparations can take many forms:

• direct payments
• housing assistance
• educational benefits
• land
• community investment
• business assistance
• debt relief
• institutional reforms

The common thread is that each of these are designed to help the aggrieved party build a better life inside the country which harmed them. What I am proposing is a plan to allow those who have been harmed the option to build a new life somewhere else.

Under my Right to Leave proposal, the U.S. federal government would provide relocation grants to eligible Americans of African ancestry who voluntarily choose to establish permanent residency outside of the United States.

The money could cover reasonable expenses such as:

• U.S. passport fees
• birth-certificate/document fees
• certified translations
• immigration consultations
• legal assistance
• immigration application fees
• visa fees
• temporary-residency fees
• permanent-residency application fees
• required medical examinations
• background-check fees
• language classes
• airfare
• shipping personal belongings
• pet relocation
• temporary accommodation
• transportation to the destination

It might also include a limited transition allowance for the first several months rather than an unrestricted cash payment.

There would also need to be important safeguards in place, however. One of the most important is that the government would not be able to force any native-born or naturalized U. S. citizen to leave, nor would the government get to choose the destination. The United States would only be paying for the opportunity for people to leave. It would not purchase admission to another country.

The recipient would still have to satisfy the destination country’s immigration requirements including:

• income requirements
• criminal-background requirements
• health requirements where applicable
• age requirements
• employment requirements
• investment requirements
• language requirements
• residency requirements

This would not be a mechanism for dumping prisoners, psychiatric patients or other people whom another country doesn’t want. Nobody would be exempt from the immigration laws of the receiving country.

So, who would quality? Although the reparations debate generally centers around African Americans, however, I think it could reasonably be applied to members of other marginalized groups as well. Americans of African ancestry have suffered the long-term effects of slavery, segregation, racial terrorism (lynching), discriminatory house policies, employment discrimination, disenfranchisement and more so I think the program should be piloted with this group. However, since Indigenous people, other people of color, non-Christians and members of the LGBTQ+ community are also receiving the “We don’t want you!” message from MAGA and the White Christian Nationalist movement as well, perhaps later iterations could reasonably be opened to them as well.

With any new idea, the question of, “But how are you going to pay for it?” always arises as well. Since simply writing checks never fails to result in objections, perhaps the program could be financed in a different way. What if members of marginalized groups who permanently emigrate were allowed to retain some or all of their federal and state tax benefits or could receive a tax exemption after establishing permanent residence abroad? In order to be eligible for this benefit individuals would need to:

• establish permanent residence in another country
• give up U. S. residence for tax purposes
• comply with U.S. tax laws, and
• meet the reparations eligibility requirements

In exchange, recipients would receive some form of long-term tax relief. If America is unwilling to write reparations checks, could it at least stop taxing those who choose to build a life somewhere else?

I understand, however, that this proposal will inevitably raise the question:

“Why should taxpayers pay people to leave?”

Here are my thoughts on that.

1. Reparations are compensation, not charity.

Unless you somehow believe that slavery, Jim Crow Laws, lynching, the Tulsa Massacre, denying African American WWII veterans access to the GI Bill benefits, and decades of segregation and redlining is somehow justified, reparations are owed. Relocation assistance would simply be one possible form of compensation to settle that debt.

2. It could actually cost less than some traditional reparations proposals.

A limited relocation grant might be considerably less expensive than lifelong programs involving housing, education, healthcare, or direct cash payments.

3. It would be voluntary.

Nobody is forced to leave.

4. It wouldn’t require America to find housing or jobs for recipients.

The recipient assumes the responsibility of establishing themselves in another country.

5. It could create an unusual form of economic freedom.

The money isn’t simply consumption—it helps someone change their circumstances.

I recognize, however, that even some African Americans or members of other marginalized groups might raise the following objection:

“Why should we have to leave? America is our country, too.”

My response to that is:

Exactly.

I am not arguing that anyone should leave. I am simply arguing that they should have the choice.

A person can simultaneously believe:

• America is their country,
• America owes them something,
• America should become more just,
• and they personally would rather live somewhere else.

Those aren’t necessarily contradictory.

I think the bigger question would be:

What would happen if people actually left?

What would it say about the United States if thousands—or millions—of people of color and members of marginalized communities accepted the offer?

Would MAGA say, “Good riddance”? I suspect that the answer to this question is most likely “Yes!” – at least at first. However, would their attitude change once the impact on sports, music, cultural diversity, and the U. S. economy as a whole became fully realized?

Would others ask, “Why are you leaving?”

Would still others say, “Thank you for giving us the opportunity to make things right.”

I think all of these are definite possibilities.

I was living in Jacksonville, North Carolina in November of 2024 and I recall how distraught I was after the outcome of the Presidential election. The disgust that I felt for those that voted for Trump was changing me as a person. I was reluctant to even leave the house and felt genuinely afraid that our country was headed back toward the Jim Crow era that I had heard my parents and grandparents talk about. In order to preserve my mental health, my husband and I made the decision to relocate to Mexico, and it was the best decision that we could have ever made. I felt trapped and in danger in North Carolina after Trump won. However, I was quite privileged in the sense that I had the financial resources which gave me the freedom to make a choice about where I would live.

Mexico has offered be a slower and more enjoyable pace of life. I participate in Spanish-English conversation groups where I have met lovely and interesting Mexican people from all walks of life. I enjoy socializing with other immigrants from the United States, Canada, and the U.K. My brown skin no longer makes me a target for racial discrimination and the beauty of the ocean, the year-round warm weather and the insanely low cost of living allow me to be happier now than I have ever been.

This is why I believe that emigration could be a form of reparations. Rather than considering reparations from the perspective of, “Here is money for what happened to your ancestors,” it could mean, “Here are resources that give you greater control over what happens to you next.

This proposal isn’t about exile. I am not proposing that Black Americans should leave America. I am proposing that if America is serious about reparations, it should recognize that freedom includes the freedom to decide where you want to live. If someone wants to stay and fight for a better America, let them. If someone wants to leave, why shouldn’t America help them do so?

Perhaps the most radical form of reparations isn’t a check. Perhaps it’s the freedom to choose what comes next.