Framing Reparations

Since the enactment of reparations for Japanese American World War II internees in the early 1990s, the public debate on slavery reparations has gained momentum. Recently, a number of states and the U.S. House of Representatives have issued formal apologies for slavery. In light of this debate, it may be important for policymakers, as well as policy researchers, to better understand public opinion on this issue. At present, not much is known other than that most Americans oppose reparations. However, public opinion surveys yield widely varying population estimates. These differences may represent random error by an uninformed public or they may reflect complex considerations about “who” should be compensated “by whom” in “what form” and “for what” injustice. Using the results of a nationally representative question wording experiment ( n =  2,001) this article investigates whether opposition to slavery reparations is unqualified, or whether it depends on the specific policy design. Since data collection was completed before Virginia became the first state to apologize for slavery in February 2007, the study offers a window into the formation of public opinion prior to elite policy enactment. Results suggest that the public carefully distinguishes between different reparations proposals and that policymakers, as well as policy researchers, may have to be very specific when addressing an issue of this complexity.