Principles of Compensation
(John Speaking)

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Finding a basis for any principle is an important moral problem.

One way to justify a moral rule is to find an analogy with something already established. In this case, one analogy is to property. We all agree that if A takes B's property unjustly, then A should return the property or pay B some sort of compensation. If racial discrimination is analogous, then we have a justification for our principle.

In more general terms, if A violates B's rights, then A owes B something as compensation. I'm assuming that much of the racial discrimination in our history was a violation of the moral rights of blacks.

Reference: Bernard Boxill uses the property analogy in his article "The Morality of Reparation" in Reverse Discrimination edited by Barry Gross.

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