reparations
Compensation for injustice
Reparations are compensation for wrongs inflicted, especially payments made by a defeated nation for wartime damage or by governments to groups historically harmed by official policy.
The term often refers specifically to proposed payments to Black Americans for slavery and its aftermath: The city council debated a reparations program for descendants of enslaved people.
More broadly, reparations can mean any amends or restitution: The company offered reparations to affected communities.
Restoring what was lost
- redressCompensation for injury
- indemnityProtection against financial loss
- damagesCompensation for injury
- recompensePayment for loss
settlement · amends · remuneration · payout · repayment · disbursement · recoupment · refund
Obligation for one's actions
- rectificationAct of setting straight
- reconciliationRestoration of friendly relations
- equityImpartial treatment or ownership value
- fairnessJust and equal treatment
tribunal · adjudication · acknowledgment · apology · culpability · liability · wrongdoing · grievance
Ownership of people
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
- HolocaustNazi genocide of Jews
- genocideSystematic annihilation of a people
- apartheidRacial separation policy
Formal argument on issues
- controversyProlonged public disagreement
- legislationOfficial enactment of statutes
- policyAdopted principle of action
- advocacyPleading for a cause
movement · activism · opposition · backlash · divisive · contentious · polarizing · bipartisan
Restoration of friendly relations
- restorationReturning something to condition
- closureSense of emotional resolution
- healingRestoration of health
- acknowledgmentConfirmation of receipt
memorialization · dignity · recognition · validation · catharsis · renewal · rebuilding · community
restitution
Restoring what was lost
- redressCompensation for injury
- indemnityProtection against financial loss
- damagesCompensation for injury
recompense · settlement · amends · remuneration · payout · repayment · disbursement · recoupment · refund · atonement
accountability
Obligation for one's actions
- rectificationAct of setting straight
- reconciliationRestoration of friendly relations
- equityImpartial treatment or ownership value
fairness · tribunal · adjudication · acknowledgment · apology · culpability · liability · wrongdoing · grievance · claimant
slavery
Ownership of people
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
- HolocaustNazi genocide of Jews
- genocideSystematic annihilation of a people
apartheid · indigenous · emancipation · post-colonialism · segregation
debate
Formal argument on issues
- controversyProlonged public disagreement
- legislationOfficial enactment of statutes
- policyAdopted principle of action
advocacy · movement · activism · opposition · backlash · divisive · contentious · polarizing · bipartisan · commission
reconciliation
Restoration of friendly relations
- restorationReturning something to condition
- closureSense of emotional resolution
- healingRestoration of health
acknowledgment · memorialization · dignity · recognition · validation · catharsis · renewal · rebuilding · community · dialogue
- reconciliationreconciliation, reconcile, reconciled, reconciling, making up
- historical justicetrial by combat, truth commissions, trial by ordeal, trial by fire, witch trials
- money owedbills, debts, loans, IOUs, mortgages
- peacemakingnegotiation, mediation, peace agreement, mediate, pacifying
- things you receivegift, package, mail, email, letter
- money transfersbank transfer, wire transfer, fund transfer, electronic transfer, direct deposit
reparationsdenial
Refusal to accept reality
forgiveness · erasure · amnesia · willful ignorance · absolution
reparationspenalties
Punishments for infractions
fines · punitive damages · retribution · confiscation · forfeiture
- war reparationsCompensation from defeated nation
- slavery reparationsCompensation for ancestral enslavement
- wartime reparationsCompensation from defeated nations
- post-war reparationsPayments demanded from vanquished nations
- reparation paymentsCompensation for wrongs done
- financial reparationsCompensatory payment for injury