Reparations on the Homefront

Injustices are faced everyday throughout the world and are even seen happening within the United States. One group in particular facing injustices are the Native Americans. Once considered the indigenous people of this land, Native Americans were victimized by the English settlers that first colonized this land. The oppression of this group included the government implementation of “reservations,” restricting the Native American’s of their homeland. Other repressions faced by the Native Americans were mass genocides and massacres, all of which were executions by the US government.

The reparation efforts used to address this injustice are minimal and may be characterized as collective efforts rather than individualized efforts. Native Americans continue to live within the reservations “granted” to them by the government and live by a self-governing rule. This self-governing rule is referred to as “Indian Sovereignty” and because they self-govern they don’t receive any financial compensation from the government. With no current policy involved it is being discussed by government officials. The U.N. and president Obama have suggested possible plans to “give back” some of the land taken form Native Americans, but there is still much dispute over the issue.

The minimal efforts shown towards reparation of the Native Americans, as demonstrated by the US government are both unjust and unfair. Though Native Americans currently live under their own law on their own lands, I don’t think justice has been served considering the amount of land they lost and the amount of people massacred by government forces. Symbolic reparation may have been served to some extent, as schools educate on the conflicts of our past, but no material reparations have been met.

Limitations might be the reason material reparations haven’t been met. While Native Americans only make up a small percentage of the US population, they might not have the civilian support necessary to implement reparation strategies. As discussed in the course readings, this is a major aspect of successfully implementing reparations to a group.

Overall, the reparation efforts that have been made have been successful. Under Indian Sovereignty, Native Americans have been able to open casinos that bring in millions of revenue. Injustice hasn’t been served but I do believe given the circumstances, Native Americans have found a way to prosper. I hope as reparation efforts continue that land might be restored to this group, as they were wrongfully abused by the US government long ago and justice must be served.