A Case for Responsible Reparations

About the Book

Measures of economic success often include household income, family savings, educational attainment, homeownership, property values, employment, health, life expectancy, and community incidence of violent crime. By almost any measure, African Americans are at or near the bottom when they are compared to other demographic groups. And although there are pockets of aff luent Black communities, such as Prince George’s County, Maryland near Washington, DC, too many predominantly African American communities languish at or near the bottom. This book attempts to describe the main causes of Black economic disparity, presents a plan to address the disparity, and proposes a comprehensive plan of execution. Essentially, the solution proposed is a Plan for Black Reparations. However, no fi nancial payout to individual African Americans is proposed. What is advocated is signifi cant reform in several of the community services used by and that aff ect African Americans. These include access to mental health services, reforms in the delivery of childcare, welfare, educational, and criminal justice services to the Black community; incentives for both Black marriage and home ownership, and fi nancial literacy. The execution of the plan involves pre-qualifi cation and a strict adherence to basic bookkeeping and time-honored business practices; following a prescribed set of rules and regulations to ensure fi nancial transparency and a set of measurable goals to make sure that the Plan is moving toward closing the gaps in African American economic disparity.

About the Author

Roderick T. Nicholson is semi-retired and currently works in his consulting services business. Roderick graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering with a dual concentration in Environmental Engineering and Transportation Engineering. Prior to his retirement, Roderick worked for more than 34 years in various capacities with municipal, state, and federal government. For 10 years, Rod served as part-time Mayor of the small town of Terry, MS located about 15 miles south of the capital city of Jackson. During that time, Rod shepherded various infrastructure projects which included the construction of an award-winning City Hall, a municipal library, and a Public Works/Fire Station building. Other infrastructure projects included establishment of a new water well for the town, signifi cant improvements to the town’s water quality, and expansion of the town’s water and sewer systems into underserved areas of the community. Since 2019, Rod and his wife have lived in North Texas and have been married more than 41 years. They have 3 adult children and 1 grandchild. This is Mr. Nicholson’s second book. His fi rst book was “The First Black Mayor of Terry, MS – A Memoir (2025)”.