A Thumbs Down to Reparations for American Slavery

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore vetoed legislation to study reparations for American slavery. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/18/us/maryland-governor-vetoes-reparations-bill.html https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5307282-maryland-governor-wes-moore-reparations-bill/ I could not be happier. Over the course of thirty essays, I have laid out the multi-layered case against reparations for American slavery. Do I credit logic for Governor Moore’s wise veto? I wish I could. Do I credit principle for the thumbs down? That would be nice but probably gives ethics and morality too much credit. I believe the vibe has shifted in the country and the world this year. I credit The Fourth Turning.

People are fatigued with the lack of accountability in the realm of race. The white guilt card has been overplayed. As I plainly put it to Klingon, if my Grandma born in 1893 did not clamor for reparations for American slavery, why would able-bodied men and women thirst for reparations in the year 2025? It is embarrassing, the utter lack of self-respect.

Even former slaves pulled their pants up and got about the business of enterprise and property accumulation. My Grandma’s Grandfather, Daniel Brown, was born a slave in Charlotte County, Virginia in 1833. Was he crippled by his slave status? Did he lust for reparations before he could provide for his family and descendants? The records reveal that Daniel Brown purchased his first property in 1869 and he did not stop until he had acquired over 500 acres of land in Chesterfield and Charlotte Counties, Virginia.

When Daniel died, he did not leave his grieving widow with a bill. He left his beloved with a will. The following is a partial listing of resources Sally Anne Brown could draw upon in her sorrow and as the mother of ten black children in 1885:

1. One brown mule — Bill

2. One dun mule — Tom

3. One black mule — George

4. One bay mare — Kate

5. One bay mare — Dolly

6. One Buffalo Cow

7. One Red Cow

8. One Yearling

9. Six (6) hogs

10. Six (6) pigs

11. Three (3) sheep

12. Fifteen (15) Fowls

13. Three (3) Wagons

14. Two (2) Carts

15. One (1) buggy & harness

16. One (1) Flint Stone

17. Three (3) Double plows

18. Three (3) Single plows

19. Two (2) Cultivator

20. One (1) Corn Planter

21. One (1) Lassow

22. Two (2) Wheel barrows

23. Set of hoes, forks & shovels

24. Set of wagon harness

25. Set of old harness & cart saddle

26. Set mechanics’ tools

27. One (1) Grain cradle

28. One (1) Fan Mill

29. One (1) Thrashing Machine

30. One (1) Mower

31. Nine (9) bbls (barrels) Flour

32. Set old bbls (barrels)

33. One hay frame

34. Set old wagons

35. One hay frame

36. Set old wagons

37. Set Lumber

38. One (1) Straw Cutter

39. Set Black Peas

40. Set blade ladder

41. One (1) Old Straw Cutter

42. One (1) Calendar Clock

43. One (1) Mahogany Table

44. One (1) Bureau

45. Two (2) Chests

46. One (1) pair Andirons

47. Set chairs

48. One (1) Sideboard

49. One (1) Boar

50. One Desk

51. One (1) gun

    Conclusion: All of these personal items reflect a life of industry constructed by a former slave who could not read. He signed his will with an “X”. There is no evidence of lingering effects of slavery preventing Daniel Brown from creating a stable and propertied life along the James River at Chester Lodge. If this family man who knew slavery as a slave could build an enduring home ten miles from Richmond, Virginia between June 21, 1871 and his death in 1885, why would privileged black legislators in Maryland who have never known a day of slavery clamor for something they did not earn on behalf of ancestors they never knew?

    Do you feel the fatigue?

    

    We need more narratives in the public square of simple success by former slaves. In some places, there was despair and disfranchisement. In other places, black men were leaving surviving family with wills, not bills.

    Good evening!