Read the passage below:
"The civil rights laws of the 1960s did not—and could not—redistribute the wealth that had been systematically accumulated through centuries of unpaid Black labor. Non-discrimination policies assume a level playing field, but they ignore the compounding interest of historical disadvantage. To expect equal outcomes under rules of modern fairness, without addressing the structural deficit inherited from the past, is to perpetuate the economic legacy of slavery under a guise of procedural equality."
Based on the passage, which of the following assertions best aligns with the author's critique of post-1960s civil rights reforms?
- AThey failed because they prioritized individual economic integration over the preservation of distinct African cultural traditions and cosmologies.
- BThey were ineffective because they only targeted northern de facto housing discrimination while leaving southern de jure segregation laws completely intact.
- They establish legal protections against active discrimination but fail to remediate the historical, compounding wealth gap resulting from centuries of exploitation.Answer
- DThey failed because they did not provide federally funded emigration and repatriation to West Africa, which was the only solution supported by early Black activists.
Answer
Civil rights laws establish legal protections against active discrimination but fail to remediate the historical, compounding wealth gap resulting from centuries of exploitation.
The correct answer is correct because the author argues that while civil rights laws establish procedural equality (legal non-discrimination going forward), they do not address or remediate the accumulated, intergenerational wealth disparities that resulted from centuries of unpaid labor and systemic exclusion.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Debates on Reparations and Afrocentricity