International Law Demands Reparations for American Slavery

Article originally published by Wall Street Journal

After the death of George Floyd, BET co-founder Robert Johnson argued that “now is the time” for the U.S. to pay $14 trillion in reparations to American descendants of African slaves. He’s right. But while the issue in the U.S. is seen largely as a domestic affair, international law creates an unequivocal basis for reparations.

The failure of successive U.S. governments to pay reparations paved the way for the Trump administration’s impunity. It has meant that the intergenerational trauma inflicted by the slave trade over centuries has never healed, but instead has been incorporated into many of America’s most vital institutions.

Some argue that because slavery was legal during much of the time it was practiced in the U.S., there can be no case for reparations. But the U.S. is bound by international law and must be guided by the precedent set by many other countries that have recognized reparations as a means to redress injustice.

Moreover, the prohibition against slavery has now achieved jus cogens—a peremptory norm, from which no derogation is permitted. This is the highest legal status in international law, and it means retroactive responsibility may be imposed on those who violated that norm. This is how the Nazis were prosecuted at Nuremberg: retroactively—for the jus cogens of crimes against humanity. On that basis alone, the U.S. may be held legally responsible for the historical enslavement of Africans and the consequences for their descendants . . .