Black people have been discriminated against in America basically since the birth of this country, so it should come as no surprise that they wish for reparations to be made. However, I don’t believe America is ready to make up for all it has done and admit it’s faults. One suggestion that has been made for such reparations is a bill called HR 40. This bill, introduced by John Conyers Jr., “[calls] for a congressional study of slavery and its lingering effects as well as recommendations for ‘appropriate remedies’” (Coates 20).  HR 40 clearly lays out a plan to begin reparations but Americans do not want to hear it. In fact, Americans would rather stop the bill from ever passing than allowing it to point out all this country has done wrong and how that dirtiness runs deep within. Coates explains, “…HR 40 has never—under either Democrats or Republicans—made it to the House floor suggests our concerns are rooted not in the impracticality of reparations but in something more existential. If we conclude that the conditions in North Lawndale and black America are not inexplicable but are instead precisely what you’d expect of a community that for centuries has lived in America’s crosshairs, then what are we to make of the world’s oldest democracy?” (21). In saying this, Coates is trying to explain that it is not the idea of reparations that is scaring away the country, rather it is the idea that they will have to admit the faults of our government and the very foundation of our country. If we admit that the veins of racism run deep in our foundation then we admit that nothing will ever truly change unless we rip down the current foundation and build up a new one.  America prides itself on being the greatest and admitting that greatness has come at an astronomical price to anyone other than the white man would surely rip down the seemingly impenetrable facade of greatness we have put up. 

For this paragraph, I added more explanation between the two quotes to separate them as well as to add more of my own voice to balance out the quantity of quoting within.

Racism and discrimination are not a problem of the past, they are real and pressing issues still plaguing this country. America, however, chooses to ignore this for the sake of protecting the image of equality they have forged in their own minds. Coates states, “One cannot escape the question by hand-waving at the past, disavowing the acts of one’s ancestors, nor by citing a recent date of ancestral immigration. The last slaveholder has been dead for a very long time. The last soldier to endure Valley Forge has been dead much longer. To proudly claim the veteran and disown the slaveholder is patriotism à la carte” (21). Coates means that this selective patriotism is simply a cop out. It is beyond unfair to idolize our founding fathers but only the good parts of them. You cannot erase history no matter how hard you try to ignore it. Lukianoff and Haidt explain that emotional reasoning can be defined as, “You let your feelings guide your interpretation of reality” (Common Cognitive Distortions). What Americans are doing is choosing to let themselves believe that the past is in the past and has no effect on the current future simply because it is not affecting them. They would much rather continue to believe the builders of this country’s foundation were able to build us up from the ground on sheer ambition, perseverance and hard work rather than realizing the only reason we have reached the top is by taking advantage of our power and forcing down anyone different. That tactic of pushing everyone other than the white man down has been used for centuries and is still rampaging the country. Alas, the emotional reasoning is forcing so many people to ignore what is happening right beneath their noses. Additionally, Lukianoff and Haidt explain, “…subjective feelings are not always trustworthy guides; unrestrained, they can cause people to lash out at others who have done nothing wrong” (para. 21). Perhaps America’s way of “lashing out” is not so much a verbal attack but is the continuation of discrimination against black people. The country is again letting the image of this country stay steadfast in their head and instead is not giving the black community a chance to speak for what has been done to them. White America is solely in the wrong yet the only people continuing to pay for this is black people. When those black people try to speak against this blatant discrimination and show the wrongness if it, they are punished even further.

For this paragraph I have added an additional quote from Lukianoff and Haidt to further connect the texts.