If African Americans could receive reparations owed to them because of slavery, then the welfare system and the endless cycle of poverty present in some black communities would end, the Black Togetherness Organization said.

Students are invited to the BTO-sponsored 40 Acres and a Mule:Justice or Nonsense at 7 p.m. tonight in the lower level of Grinnell to discuss whether or not African Americans are entitled to reparations stemming from slavery.

Brian Clardy, a teaching assistant in black American studies and a doctoral student in history, said blacks could become more integrated into the capitalist mainstream if the reparations were carried through.

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If the reparations were passed, blacks will be given land and will be able to access capital cash and credit, he said.

He said that in the 1870s, Republicans including Rep. Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania and Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts opposed this legislation to divide the confiscated lands from former slave owners into 40-acre lots. As a result, black men who were 21 and over could own the land, but they had to rent the mules.

Clardy said once the slaves became free, America became more prosperous.

Former slaves began to make demands upon the federal government, he said. They wanted to be treated fairly by owning their own property and being their own citizens.

Tanya Price, a professor in anthropology and black studies, said that around 1877, the South failed to fulfill its promise to the blacks because the federal government passed the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, which set the slaves free and gave them citizenship and the right to vote.

These acts were supposed to make black people citizens in the U.S., she said. But the U.S. government stopped protecting the blacks. It allowed the political interests of the South to dominate the blacks and put them in the state of virtual slavery.

She said if African Americans received 40 acres and a mule, there would be more African Americans in the middle and upper classes in today’s society.

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If the government paid compensation to the former slaves for their hard labor and no pay, it would at least give them somewhat a start, she said. After slavery, they started with no land, no home and no money, whereas the mainstream America, for the most part, had some capital

Jody Moore, executive chair of communications of BTO and a senior in political science from Decatur, said the discussion will reflect on whether African Americans should move on or find a way to receive reparations.

If African Americans receive reparations, the discussion will consider what blacks will do with the reparation and how it should be used, she said.

Price said this discussion is for the benefit of America because it is based on economic empowerment.

We (African Americans) would have more people in the middle class if we would have started on an equal economic footing in this country, she said.

Price said she will allow people to debate what they think is the best course to follow, and she will decide at a later date on how to take tonight’s discussion further.