Reparations advocates rarely engage directly with the mechanism question in public debate. When pressed, they tend to redirect to the moral case for reparations rather than addressing how payment would work in practice.
This evasion is telling. The moral case and the practical case are separate questions. You can believe the moral case is strong and still conclude that no workable mechanism exists. The advocates’ reluctance to engage with mechanism suggests they know that any specific proposal would immediately expose the problems set out in this section.
