Making Ignorance Sacred Again: Keeping ScOR #7

In this influential article, Ta-Nehisi Coates makes a compelling case for reparations to African Americans, highlighting the long-lasting effects of slavery, Jim Crow laws, and housing discrimination. He argues that reparations are necessary to address the wealth gap, the loss of free will and family destruction imposed on slaves, and to provide a form of spiritual closure for the nation. Coates draws on historical examples, including the reparations paid by Germany to Israel after the Holocaust, and suggests a national discussion and policy initiatives to address these historical injustices.

Published in 1949, 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' is a cautionary tale set in a future where the world is divided into three totalitarian super-states: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. The novel follows Winston Smith, a minor functionary in the Ministry of Truth in Oceania, who begins to question the all-pervasive authority of the Party and its leader, Big Brother. Winston's rebellion, fueled by his forbidden love affair with Julia and his interest in the mysterious Brotherhood, ultimately leads to his capture and brutal reeducation by the Thought Police. The novel explores themes of mass surveillance, censorship, and the manipulation of truth, serving as a powerful warning about the dangers of unaccountable governments and the erosion of individual freedom and dignity.