Reparations to Black Americans for slavery is one of the nation’s oldest and fiercest political debates. Next week, expert scholars will debate the issue as part of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Program for Public Discourse.
The December 8 event, part of the program’s Debating Public Policy Series, will bring together Dr. William Darity, professor of Public Policy at Duke University, and Dr. Randall Kennedy, law professor at Harvard University for an online discussion moderated by Dr. Osamudia James, professor at UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Law. Registration for the 3 p.m. event, to be held over Zoom, can be found here.
“How can the United States try to make amends for its original sin?” the UNC program asked in a statement announcing next week’s event. “What is owed to the ancestors of slaves and the inheritors of structural inequality? Which policies might best serve those endeavors?”

Duke University’s Dr. William Darity, UNC Law Professor Osamudia James and Harvard University’s Randall Kennedy will discuss reparations in an online event through UNC-Chapel Hill’s Program for Public Discourse on Dec. 8.