The aff’s reparative politics fail to address structures of anti-blackness and create a false sense of faith in institutions to bring about liberation—instead a politics of black self-reliance is key to alleviate racial violence.

IV. REPARATIONS WILL NOT ALLEVIATE THE PROBLEMS FACING BLACKS TODAY: Reparations advocates fail to realize that reparation handouts will never cure the ills Blacks face today as individuals and as a community.' 0' Reparations will not give Blacks self-worth. It will not lower poverty, the crime rates or out of wedlock birth rates, even though proponents try to use these statistics to justify their claim that the government should pay reparations. These problems are engrained within our culture. They are a mindset that cannot be changed by any proposed reparations. Instead, proponents should devote their time and energy to alleviate theses problems by proposing viable solutions that will truly impact Blacks in a positive way. Reparations supporters should preach self-reliance to the black community rather than advocating for an unreasonable and unrealistic fix to current social ills. When people are not forced to take responsibility for their lives, this attitude actually reinforces the perpetual cycle of problems facing the black community.' 0 2 Blacks should stop treating themselves as victims and take responsibility for their lives.'0 3 But reason has been the first casualty in the Victimhood Sweepstakes, from which the reparations movement gets it casus belli. Will the reparations issue rear its head again if paid to black Americans? It certainly will. Many other ethnic groups will ask for handouts until our country is bankrupt, which ultimately harms everyone. Therefore, Blacks in this country would better reach their goals by relying on themselves to attain the American Dream. As such, the focus should be on strengthening the economic base of the black community. One theory on how to do this is through cooperative economics, which promotes the reinvigoration of a community by encouraging community residents to financially patron local businesses. In turn, these businesses will reinvest their resources into community development enterprises.' 0 4 Black Cooperative Economics is an attempt to reinvigorate the black community by establishing a system of economic self sufficiency within the community. 0 5 Black residents support black businesses while these same businesses provide the capital base for the community, thus a creating a beneficial cyclical effect. 10 6 The premise behind black cooperative economics is that Blacks should not depend upon anyone, especially the government, to invest money into black communities in order to strengthen the black community. The result of this cyclical economic structure and the element of exclusivity yield a self-sufficient economic system that is durable and permanent. In addition to encouraging responsibility of black businesses to reinvest within the black community, black middle-class professionals are encouraged to prime the capital pump by investing within black communities. 1° 8 Consequently, a self-sufficient enterprise is born and sustained by the black community for its own benefit. These ideas would be a healthier and more productive way to address the problems of black today instead of wasting time and energy on the reparationists' lost cause.