For this Socratic Seminar, have students read the National African American Reparations Commission’s Reparations Plan. Since the text is quite lengthy, consider assigning it for homework or giving an additional class period for students to read and analyze the source prior to the discussion. It may also be useful to pair this plan with another introductory text about reparations (such as Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “The Case for Reparations”) or to include an introductory discussion defining reparations prior to starting this activity.

After the seminar, have students answer the following question in a written reflection:

• To what extent does the U.S. government owe reparations to Black Americans for the racial wealth gap stemming from enslavement and economic reconstruction during the Civil War?