In an act to affirm the idea that America should claim ownership of the wrongdoing that they have committed against African Americans for centuries, Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote A Case For Reparations. “Reparations” are essentially the executive decision proposed by a government to alleviate all wrongdoings by granting monetary benefits to the victims that were affected by such wrongdoings. Ta-Nehisi Coates presents the argument that until America recognizes the hundreds of years of enslavement, segregation, and systematic oppression, the state of this Country will never be whole. Being a persuasive piece, Coates uses mechanisms such as Bible scriptures, factual evidence/statistics, and actual testimonies to appeal to the emotional and logical center of his readers in hopes of swaying them to believe that reparations are indeed a needed action. Coates also hopes to get his readers to understand the true effect that racial inequality and systematic oppression has had on African Americans. Coates begins his piece with a spiritual scripture deriving from a book in the Bible. Being a central state of believing for most, Coates uses religion to place all of his readers on the same mental accord. Echoing biblical scriptures would also cause many readers to bring their emotions into their decision making or thought process regarding
