saying black people deserve reparations you're concerned about whether reparations would all to mitt lee be more damaging than beneficial as a tactic or strategy can you talk a little bit about what you mean when you say that. well sure to the extent that any issue can be turned on its side and made conservative this is certainly one of them and i think in many ways the reparations argument has been welcomed by a conservative segments of the political and media apparatus even the academic apparatus in the united states because it doesn't challenge capital it allows for in many ways what we saw after the election of barack obama it allows for much of white america to simply say well we can walk wipe our hands of of these issues and move on what i think should be the primary concern for any group or any oppressed group no more among them than black people in the united states that is the assumption of political power and we need to be organizing for. a change of this is sidey in ways that would make this conversation moot because reparations has been going on as you noted in your intro for