Smart Talk Tuesday: Reparations for descendants of enslaved people? Should Confederate Memorials come down?

• Scott LaMar
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Scott LaMar has worked in both radio and television for more than four decades.
  
  Currently, LaMar is the Host and Executive Producer of The Spark program on WITF-FM, 89.5 & 93.3 in Harrisburg, Pa.
  
  Previously, LaMar was WITF TV’s Sr. Public Affairs producer and produced the station’s award-winning weekly public affairs TV program, Smart Talk.
  
  In addition to his on-air duties, LaMar has moderated political candidate debates, including those for candidates running for Pennsylvania governor and the U.S. Senate and was a regular contributor to BBC World News TV before and after the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
  
  LaMar often emcees or moderates local events and has gone as far as California to emcee a national event.
  
  The American Society of Civil Engineers honored LaMar with their national Excellence in Journalism award in 2020. He has been nominated for five Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
  
  LaMar and The Spark have been recognized throughout the Central Pennsylvania community including ADVOZ Lancaster’s “Dignity in Dialogue Award”, the South-Central Assembly’s “Regional Citizen Award” and was named a “Humanitarian Hero” by The Humane Society of the United States/Pennsylvania.
  
  A native of Coatesville, Pa., LaMar has also worked as a broadcast news anchor, sports play-by-play announcer and manager.

 John Minchillo / AP Photo

Protesters gather Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Minneapolis. Protests continued following the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.

The Black Lives Matter demonstrations over the past three weeks and subsequent attention on discrimination, inequality and violence toward African-Americans may re-open a conversation that up until now has not gained widespread national support — reparations for the descendants of enslaved people in America.

There is near universal agreement today that kidnapping Africans and enslaving them was wrong and immoral. But there never has been agreement on how to or even to apologize for slavery. Over the years, there have been rare occasions when an institution or company offered reparations to descendants of enslaved people. But fewer people have supported providing monetary reparations to the descendants of the enslaved.

Beyond questions of actually whether to provide reparations, logistics arise like how does one prove their enslaved ancestry and where would the money come from?

Democratic state Rep. Chris Rabb of Philadelphia has proposed a reparations bill and explains on Tuesday’s Smart Talk.

Also, statues and memorials commemorating Civil War Confederate soldiers, slave owners and others who are thought to have played a role in the nation’s racist past are being removed either by protestors or local and state governments.

Those who oppose eliminating the memorials or the Confederate battle flag often say they honor their heritage or history.

Professor Scott Hancock, Ph.D., associate professor of History and Africana Studies at Gettysburg College appears on Tuesday’s Smart Talk with his thoughts.