I owe you nothing. Not a penny. Not for the sins of slavery or white supremacy or “structural racism” or Jim Crow or redlining or police brutality. Certainly not for the existence of racism, real or imagined. 

The idea of reimbursing contemporary black citizens for the sin of slavery is one of the most corrosive, immoral, impractical, unjust, and un-American policy ideas gaining popularity on the Left. There are a slew of reasons why we shouldn’t entertain reparations. It would needlessly perpetuate racial divisions. It costs lots of money but, in the end, fixes none of the underlying problems that plague minorities. 

Mostly, though, we should reject the notion because it compels us to make a false confession about our nation.