It is against this backdrop that an issue, which has appeared sporadically throughout modern American political discourse, has already come to the fore during campaigning by Democratic candidates ahead of the 2020 US election: reparations to the descendants of slaves. One of America’s foremost experts on the issue, Duke University professor William Darity Jr, advocates a program that combines a portfolio of race specific payments and policy, including subsidized healthcare and further education for those who can trace their roots back to slavery, along with individualized payments and trust funds.