States solve the aff BUT even if they are right about some federal deficit that’s good - Avoids resolving the federal government of blame which is the only way to create political will and structural change.

Despite the raised awareness around the issue of reparations, the political will to enact a federal plan is currently lacking. H.R. 40, a bill to establish the Commission to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans, is an important first step toward passing such a federal plan, but has yet to be brought to the House floor for a vote in its 32-year history. In the absence of a federal plan, various states and localities have convened their own commissions and, in some cases, enacted their own reparations-style plans at the sub-federal level (i.e, below the federal level). California’s Reparations Task Force represents the largest state effort to investigate reparations thus far, but cities like Evanston, Illinois, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Providence, Rhode Island have all investigated and worked toward creating and implementing programs under the auspices of reparations. As more states and localities attempt to design reparations plans, it is important that they keep certain principles in mind to ensure that the plans are effective as reparations. There is an important difference between policy that is simply “good” for Black people or people of color more broadly, and policy that is reparative. Darity and Mullen identify three criteria for an effective federal reparations plan. The plan must include acknowledgement and apology for the harm committed; it must provide material redress for that harm; and it must bring closure through a mutual understanding between the beneficiaries (white Americans) and victims (Black Americans) of the oppressive systems that were implemented. In this post, I expand these criteria slightly to provide guidelines for states and localities that are attempting to create their own reparations-style plans in the absence of a federal effort. In addition to acknowledgement and redress, I suggest that any sub-federal reparations plan that aims to be effective should: Specify what harms are being addressed and who will benefit. Stay within its capacity to provide redress for its harm—and avoid absolving the federal government from its responsibility. Commit to structural change designed to prevent future racial injustice. Sub-federal reparations plans should acknowledge and apologize for the harm done