Rating: 
Summary: The Anti-Horowitz
Review: Alas! A book that deals with the issue at hand and not by name-calling or divisive race baiting, but rather, an emotional and thoughtful look at the Debt America owes. Such horrors of America's treatment towards minorities has truly been reprehensible. Those racists that argue that they should not have to pay reparations because, "gee, whiz, I never owned a slave", those are the same arguments senior citizens make when they do not want to pay for public education. They say that since their kids are no longer using public schools or perhaps never used public schools, they should not have to pay for this service. Forgetting, what is best for society as a whole and selfishly thinking for themselves. They are both wrong.
And isn't if funny the reaction White America gives when confronted with reparations? I mean, we live in a country that spends untold billions of our tax dollars on a military budget that is still on Cold War levels, 12-15 times that of the 2nd highest military budget, as for 9-11, how does an increase to an already highly overbloated military budget keep angry men with razor blades from getting on airplanes? We also spend countless billions on corporate welfare by our government which is a time when conservatives will say the government ought to interfere with corporations. However, they should not be interfered with when that government demands less pollution, fairer wages, cutting loopholes for corporate taxes (ie Enron) thats a time when conservatives say government interference is not needed and people that contend it is needed are Communist.
When the airlines industry needs bailing out, Uncle Sam is there to protect, when a worker is laid off by Enron, its the survival of the fittest.
This government spends oodles of money on all these questionable practices that hardly gets a whisper of response from White America, but talk about something to mend slavery, one of the worst atrocities in American history, probably the worst, such as reparations, the reaction from White America is a tremendous outcry! "I Thought only big companies like General Motors and Enron are supposed to get our money! Not these lazy, welfare cheats! Get a job!" No matter how you feel about reparations, thats very telling about white America, isn't it???
Rating:
Summary: RIVETING AND COMPELLING!!
Review: Mr. Robinson, informed and educated offers the MOST convincing argument for the need for reparations for descendents of Africans in this country. As he detailed the policies of this hypocritical US government on the affairs of other countries, in regards to human rights violations, it angered me as an African American to read of the complete denial of responsibility the US has failed to take for it's own people.
I commend Mr. Robinson and his publishing company for their courage in bringing to light the ugly truth behind the US government's SIGNIFICANT role in perpetuating a divided, racially charged atmosphere here in America.
This book, small in stature but HUGE in information is a MUST READ for any one who considers themselves a patriot! It is bound to make you think again about how much this county's government and powers that be care for you and your fellow citizens.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing but important
Review: I was impressed with the author's respectful, noninflammatory tone, despite his obvious passion for his subject. Tells about the rich cultural heritage of Africa from antiquity, the connection with which has been collectively wiped out from the memories of African-Americans (and caucasion Americans). This is part of the tragic legacy of slavery that continues to impact blacks and whites in America today. Well worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Self-Determinism Takes a Beating
Review: Robinson builds on the premise that African Americans have "black" identities which have been shaped by centuries of oppression. In other words, a black man today is less an individual than he is product of his genetic lineage (race). It's a tenuous premise, but if you buy it, then the book will build a convincing case that a black person born today has little chance of rising above second-class status in America.It is a demoralizing book because it seemingly strips humans of self-determinism. If you are not hip to the multiculturalism movement, this argumentation might strike you as racist and insulting. And yet I recommend this book, especially to conservatives and libertarians who generally disdain multiculturalism. It probably won't change your mind, but there are some insights that may help you bridge the gap with the liberal perspective. I hope liberals read this book too. This book is so divisive, so racist, that you can't but notice the striking similarities between multiculturalism and the tragic nationalism and racism that led to WWII.
Rating:
Summary: Strengthening the Future of this Nation
Review: I'm so pleased that Randall Robinson has written "TheDebt." While I thought the book would focus exclusively onreparations, I was pleased to get an education on many other related issues impacting Africans in the Diaspora. I believe that in due time the debt will be paid by the heirs of those who gained from the enslavement of Africans in American, and by the United States government which also benefited from that tainted system. "The Debt" has already opened up important dialogue required for Americans of all persuasions to understand that slavery was a crime against humanity by modern and historical standards. This dialogue will help many realize that the vestiges of slavery (substandard education, employment discrimination, housing discrimination, racial profiling, etc.) will begin to dissolve through reparations and restitution. Furthermore, without these remedies, wounds like Black academic under-achievement, Black Rage, White Rage, and White guilt will remain open and festering. Rational people know that it takes far longer to fix a thing than to break it. Three hundred and Fifty years of "breaking" Africans in America to accommodate slavery and White privilege requires more than thirty years of Affirmative Action to "fix." Reparations and restitution via the efforts Robinson proposes in "The Debt" are viable approaches to ending the cycle of inhumanity and unjust enrichment by truly improving the lives of descendants of enslaved Africans. All Americans will benefit from this overdue transformation. I highly recommend that Americans concerned about the future of this nation read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Imaginative
Review: An insighful read but failed to sway this opened and fence-sitting mind. One reason that contributed to this is the appearance of the author placing thoughts into the heads of the people in this book. For example, Billy and the mentor didn't actually take that walk down the Washington Mall. These were two people the author has met just once and has imagined them in a particluar scenario. The reader is misled into thinking that the events that occurred that day at the mall actually happened. The same goes for a little girl and her teacher. The author, having never met the teacher, puts thoughts into the teacher's head that lead the reader to believe she is ignorant and racist. The author begins these scenarios with, "I imagine...", and "I visualize...", or "One can only imagine...." This indicates to me that the unfolding scene is only happening in his head, which carries no weight in terms of persuasion and debate. I would have liked to have read more about reparations; only the last couple chapters are dedicated to this. I also would have enjoyed more facts and insights about the issue -- not scenarios the author has dreamed up by using people he has met only in passing.
Rating: 
Summary: victomology 101
Review: Once you sift through the overabundance of useless adjectives to explain a simple point you will exhaustedly come to the conclusion that Blacks who are not successful need not worry or be responsible for their demise. The fault rests on that all time favorite whipping boy, the white man (gimme a break).
As a Black man I find the premise of the book insulting and counterproductive. I was curious and wanted hear Mr. Robinson make a valid case but instead I got a headache. This book will go sit on my book shelf gathering dust, never again to see the light of day, next to Cornel West.
Rating: 
Summary: A Thoughtful and Provocative Work
Review: I strongly recommend reading this brief but informative book if you are blessed with an open mind. Though not flawless it is a legitimate and important work worthy of serious discussion. There are reviewers at this site who have strongly stated their opinions to the contrary. To them I say : there is often nothing more entertaining than an opinion unencumbered by wisdom or experience. The most frequent argument among the "negative" reviewers of this book seems to be "look what the whites did for you negroes in the civil war." It is doubtful that most whites cared about slavery (if they did it wouldn't have existed). The War Between The States was fought PRIMARILY to preserve the Union. It was politics and economics presented as a morality play. Those who attempt to discredit this book are probably the same persons who believe that the war in Iraq is NOT about oil. Do some research on reconstruction and how Rutherford B. Hayes sold out newly freed blacks in the south for a few votes from the whites of Dixie. As for Lyndon Johnson being the great white hope I suggest these reviewers read Robert Caro's three volume biography of Mr. Johnson. And if that's too much to handle Master Of The Senate should suffice. Another reviewer notes that 50% of all whites descended from immigrants who had nothing to do with slavery. Let's go with that. By comparison these descendants are relative guests compared to the descendants of slaves whose ancestors were here at least 40 years before the Civil War. (Remember the practice of importing slaves was abolished early in the 19th century). So, if "senority" counts for anything it should count for having equal if not superior rights to those who couldn't cope in their own country (remember immigrants can't run for President.) Explain why Jews should get money from Switzerland, Japanese from the United States, but not blacks whose persecution went on far longer. On the other hand, in the overall span of time there's not even a second's difference between decade in which those heinous acts were committed and the decades during which crimes were committed against Africans in America. And for those blacks who feel that their point of view lends credibility to their objections I think they should take a cold hard look in the mirror held in the hands of those who control the politics, racial and economic, in this country.
Ironically none of these points are substantively germane to Mr. Robinson's central arguments. For the far eloquently written and intelligently rendered overview (than mine)I suggest that for readers who are truly committed to understanding the plight of African Americans now as shaped by decades past, reading Mr. Robinson's book will be an enlightening experience...just make sure you take you blinders off.
Rating:
Summary: I'm black...
Review: ...there are many african-americans out there who are proud to be american, and not 'hyphenated'. blacks will always have our own special togetherness, but [stuff] like this is no excuse. "united we stand, divided we fall." - a motto for all of america. there's not enough wealth in the world to pay off all the debts for things that peoples have done to each other. remember slave comes from 'slav', like in the slavic peoples who coincidentally are not black but were in chains too. slavery was a terrible part of american history, but hundreds of thousands of ... white boys died to free the slaves so if that didn't pay the debt then no amount of money ever will.
Rating:
Summary: file in sociology or humour?
Review: former slaves in america alive today: 0 (reparations for whom?) affirmative action= outdated concept which creates and nurtures a 'as good as we can be' philosophy. if the usa should offer reparations to any blacks who are willing to relocate to africa permanently with no possibility of return... all this reparations noise would go away after not even one person would ever even think twice to take them up on their offer.
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