The Moral Debt

This paper examines the evolving moral debt owed to descendants of US slavery, arguing that the injustice compounds over generations. It demonstrates how the inflation of compensation for inherited claims, recurring acts of oppression, and a hybrid counterfactual argument make the case that reparations grow more urgent with time. While addressing counterarguments such as the moral statutes of limitations argument and the apparent conflict between corrective and distributive justice, the paper argues that historical wrongs generate legitimate and increasingly urgent claims for rectification until those claims are satisfied. This suggests a reframing of descendants of US slavery as a moral creditor class owed reparations by their government.