For the first 56 years of her life, Reparationist and Reparation Generation (RepGen) supporter Lotte Lieb Dula believed she knew herself. The product of a progressive,, upper-middle-class family, with ancestral roots in New England, she was proud of her origin story and never had reason to question how her family had achieved success.
“I grew up thinking of my ancestors as heroes and heroines —hardworking, accomplished people I should strive to be like,” she notes.
When Lotte was 57, her mother died, leaving Lotte a treasure trove of belongings—including a little black ledger book that would upend her identity and life forever. The ledger book belonged to Lotte’s 2nd great-grandfather and documented his farm-related operations and business dealings in 1860s Mississippi. She scanned page after page of equipment, purchase dates, crops harvested, and values listed in neat rows—and then the names began.
“Finding lists of people my family had enslaved shattered every image I had about who we were,” Lotte noted. “Suddenly, the reality became: If this is true, then the entire family narrative I grew up with can’t also be true. I’m not who I think I am.”
Growing up in predominantly white communities and spaces, Lotte had little knowledge of racial injustices, and she coped with her family’s history by learning—starting with deep research into the racial wealth gap.
“When you have an understanding of the mechanics of the racial wealth gap, it changes everything. Meritocracy, the bootstrap argument, even some of the basic underpinnings of our faith communities all dissolve,” Lotte reflected.
Instead of becoming overwhelmed by shame or guilt following her discovery, she turned to action, and began with what she knew: money. A retired financial strategist , analyzing the dollars and cents behind racial inequity made the case for reparations clear.
“A lot of white families have multiple generations of ownership behind them, and it shows in the enduring racial wealth gap today,” Lotte states.
A Pew Research study showed that, in 2021, a typical white household held roughly $250,000 in wealth—more than 9 times the wealth of a typical Black household. The most recent Census data reveals that, despite comprising nearly 14% of the U.S. population, Black households account for just 4.7% of our nation’s total wealth. Generations after slavery, and decades removed from Jim Crow, enduring financial disparities demonstrate the monumental impact of these forces on Black wealth creation.
Along with African American partners, Briayna Cuffie, Asia Dorsey and Tamara Rhone, Lotte shares her research and insights as part of her Reparations4Slavery.com educational initiative, helping fellow descendants of slaveholders understand how their ancestors’ actions affected Black Americans throughout history.
“To comprehend our current situation, we have to commit ourselves to engaging in reparative genealogy and truth-telling,” she says. “We have to uncover our families’ true histories and then explore how our revised ancestral narratives begin to dovetail with the stories African Americans have been telling about their ancestry for centuries. This process of truth-telling becomes our foundation for pursuing repair.”
In her work, she delves into the ways housing, education, and social opportunity created and deepened the racial wealth gap. In one impactful course, she and Reparations4Slavery co-founder Briayna Cuffie, who is Black, compare 400 years of their ancestors’ history to see how slavery and institutional racism systematically enriched families like Lotte’s and disadvantaged families like Briayna’s.
“When we examine our history, we see exactly how wealth is amassed, and have to come to grips with the exploitative strategies white families used to secure wealth from the 1600s up to the present day. And you see how Black families like Briayna’s are economically hamstrung across generations,” Lotte reflects.
For Lotte, Reparations4Slavery and educational initiatives are her vehicles for repair—most prominently, a 2-year, 40-session reparations course, ‘Uncovering History, Walking the Path of Repair” that she co-facilitated with her partners as part of a Coming to the Table online offering.
“It seemed impossible, but our team made it happen,” Lotte says. “People were engaged, gained trust, and were willing to share their ancestral narratives. By the end, we all understood the exact mechanisms of the racial wealth gap. Each white person could explain how Black people were affected by slavery and institutional racism, and Black people could explain how white people benefited. Each of us had pieces of the puzzle; together, we could see the patterns unfold. It was such an important step in promoting healing for this group and for our greater society.”
Lotte’s focus on education also serves as a model to help other white Americans determine how they can reconcile the advantages and unjust benefits their families have amassed at the expense of others and create a plan of repair. “Start with what you have,” Lotte suggests. “You can share time, resources, skill sets, agency—all of the things that white families have amassed over hundreds of years you can offer in repair.”
Understanding the power of a “Reparative Alliance” to bring us closer to national Reparations, Lotte is also a strong supporter of RepGen. “What impresses me about RepGen is they also started with what they knew—that housing is a critical pathway to generational wealth. And the HORT program in particular provides a direct opportunity to redistribute wealth.”
Reparations4Slavery and RepGen’s initiatives both highlight the importance of reparative genealogy and storytelling to promote healing, and yet complement one another in the reparations space: as Lotte helps white families come to terms with their role in unjust systems and decide to take action, RepGen becomes a way for those families to financially contribute toward reducing the wealth gap.
Since discovering RepGen, Lotte has provided invaluable support, amplifying RepGen’s initiatives and participating in fundraising efforts like the recent “Housing and the Racial Wealth Gap: Understanding the Economic Basis for Repair” workshop she conducted with RepGen Co-Founder Karen Hughes that garnered $16,000 in contributions. She is proud to help build community among others working toward reparations and to grow the collective movement: “Once you look at the mechanics of economic racism you are compelled to take action,” Lotte states.
Ultimately, a key message shared among RepGen, Lotte, and her partners at Reparations4Slavery in their outreach is that we all have something to gain from engaging in the reparative justice movement. “No matter what your family’s narrative may be, this is not about you, it’s not about me—it’s about this country’s history and whether we are going to do what it takes to correct the harmful course we are on.”
A CitiGroup analysis from 2020 estimated the financial impact of systemic racism to be a loss of more than $16 trillion in economic growth over the prior two decades. In addition, there is the cost in meaning, connection, and even our basic humanity.
“Many white people start this journey with fear—I’m the person who has something to lose, African Americans are the ones who have something to gain…and I’m going to lose everything I have. But what I’ve learned on this journey is that, really, I am the one who has something to gain,” Lotte notes. “Too many white people have found that their families amassed wealth or status, but traded their humanity for whiteness. What is really happening when we engage in direct repair—we’re working to ensure other people gain access to resources, yes, but in return, we’re regaining our sense of humanity. It’s remarkable the healing that happens when you begin to break down these walls.”
In a time when government priorities and political division can make racial repair feel impossible, Reparations4Slavery and RepGen are helping people use our awareness of history to inspire concrete action. As a supporter of the movement for reparations, you can grow your knowledge and understanding through research, reparative genealogy, and community engagement. Then you can act—sharing your gifts with the movement, whether you are gathering friends for a House Meeting, making a financial contribution toward a Reparative Transfer, or volunteering your time, access, or skills with RepGen or local organizations. With your support, we can build the momentum we need for nationwide healing, repair, and reconciliation. Thank you for joining us in this critical moment.