FAQs

We name financial contributions to Reparation Generation as “Reparative Transfers”, not donations or gifts. While we understand the importance of philanthropy in advancing valuable programs and causes, making a Reparative Transfer is a conscious and intentional acknowledgement and way to reconcile the ways you, and perhaps your family, have benefited historically from slavery and ongoing structural racism.

Anyone can financially support Reparation Generation.  We raise funds from individuals, corporations and foundations for our initiatives to fund reparative transfers to Black Americans for wealth-building pursuits.

Yes, Reparation Generation is a project of Multiplier, a tax-exempt nonprofit 501(c)(3) umbrella organization (tax ID 91-2166435).

No. We appreciate contributions of any amount.

You can expect the following once you’ve contributed:

• Heartfelt appreciation from our Board, Organization, and our founders;
• Encouragement to engage in RG’s bi-annual Participatory Action Questionnaire and Follow Up Conversations:
  • When you share your insights and unique experience you become a co-creator in Reparation Generation racial wealth equity strategy. RG seeks to continuously improve – and be informed by multiple participant perspectives. We all:
    • a)  have lived experience of racial wealth inequity and its impacts in America (both advantaged and disadvantaged);
    • b)  need to have a voice and be engaged in the process of redesign and improvement; and
    • c)  will experience positive individual and societal benefits from achieving racial wealth equity.
  • Questionnaire takes 15-30 minutes. Follow Up Conversation takes 15-30 minutes. Please Note: Questionnaire answers are not anonymous and Follow Up Conversations will be recorded and transcribed. However, neither will be shared in any public or personally identifying way without your expressed permission. You will be provided a copy of the questionnaire, your answers and a transcript of the conversation for your own records. Once you complete the questionnaire, Reparation Generation staff will reach out to schedule the Follow Up Conversation.
• Ongoing communications according to the preferences you indicate including an opportunity to receive our quarterly Newsletter, and annual Impact Reports.

Reparation Generation’s process supports many of the organizations and efforts of others, such William (“Sandy”) Darity, Jr., Kristen Mullen, Andre Perry, and Rayshawn Ray. Any Black person who can trace their heritage to people enslaved in the 48 contiguous United States should be eligible for financial compensation for slavery. Reparation Generation has relied upon Birth Records, Death Records, Personal Family Trees, DNA testing, as well as other attestations of family history.

Homeownership is a crucial avenue for wealth building and is the leading source of wealth for households of all races in the United States. Unfortunately, both the wealth and homeownership gaps between Black and White Americans are significant and growing: White households now hold eight times the wealth of Black households, in part because Black homeownership rates are lower today than 50 years ago. Consequently, our Black Founders have identified homeownership as a critical method of growing long-term wealth within the Black community and have chosen it as Reparation Generation’s first initiative. We will make $25,000 wealth transfers to Black Americans purchasing a primary residence. Multiplier, a nationally recognized incubator and fiscal agent of high impact, start-up nonprofits, has selected our project and will manage all contributions via our 501(c)3 account.

• African American Homeownership Falls to 50-year Low
• Building Detroit: Black Developers are Key to Detroit’s Comeback
• Property Values Go Up in Nearly Every Detroit Neighborhood

Detroit demonstrates the power of Reparation Generation:

• Detroit’s complicated racial history has spurred broader conversations about racial justice and disparity in America. As a Great Migration city, Detroit is the home to direct descendants of enslaved people and those targeted by Jim Crow laws in the South.
• A successful pilot program in Detroit could be easily replicated across the U.S. In response to diversifying populations, Great Migration cities implemented racist policies including redlining and race-based housing covenants to segregate and economically oppress Black Americans. The effects persist today: Detroit’s population, job and housing markets mirror those in other industrial Great Migration cities like Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Baltimore, making it an ideal location to demonstrate the impact and scalability of Reparation Generation’s initiatives.  

Business and community investment in Detroit is revitalizing the city and increasing property values, creating wealth-building opportunities for home and business owners.

A significant example of government-sanctioned racism in Detroit is the demolition of the Paradise Valley district and Black Bottom neighborhood. From the 1920s to the 1950s, Black Bottom—an area already home to diverse immigrant populations—was one of the few Detroit neighborhoods where housing covenants permitted Black residents to reside. The Great Migration brought thousands of Black migrants fleeing the Jim Crow South in search of jobs in the automotive industry. Paradise Valley was known for its thriving Black music scene and a number of Black-owned businesses, including several restaurants, grocers, medical providers, churches, and nightclubs.

In the late 1940s, Detroit leaders began planning “urban renewal” projects in the area, using National Housing Act funds to demolish older buildings; in the mid-1950s, the National Highway Act provided funds for the construction of freeways through the area to connect Detroit’s industrial hub with the growing population of suburban, predominantly white workers. The neighborhoods’ diversity and lower tax base made them prime targets for renewal and demolition. By the early 1960s, Black Bottom and Paradise Valley had been replaced by the Chrysler Freeway and Lafayette Park, a middle-income residential and business district. Former residents were displaced throughout the city, often to nearby housing projects. The demolition of these neighborhoods erased significant aspects of Detroit’s Black culture, history, and wealth. Today, the city is striving to reclaim its place as a hub of Black innovation and prosperity. (Reference: information here)

Reparation Generation is just one thread in the fabric of the Reparation tapestry.  We are committed to working with other Reparative Justice programs in a movement that will lead our nation to a Federal Reparations Act.  However, right now, individuals, corporations, and foundations that are ready to reconcile history and to atone for slavery and its legacy can immediately impact the racial wealth gap by making reparative transfers through Reparation Generation.  The Reparative Wealth Transfers will go initially to homeownership, but we will also expand into addressing education and business ownership barriers.  This process will allow for healing of our nation and provide real evidence of the demand for and the power of reparations.