Social work and reparations: applying a restorative justice approach

Reparations for chattel enslavement and residual social and economic inequities are justice issues that warrant the attention of social work. Exploration of pathways by which to attain reparations have important implications for social work. Restorative justice offers a collective process to reconcile wrongdoings while simultaneously helping to determine appropriate redress for African American descendants. Social workers can play an integral role in supporting reparations as a policy priority by using their expertise to advocate for passage of H.R. 40, a bill to establish the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans.