The meaning and viability of redress: How newspapers and polls frame reparations

Despite reparations for slavery being part of the historical struggle for racial justice in the United States, the issue has fallen at the periphery of political discourse. Yet, in 2019 and 2020, the news devoted substantially more attention to the issue as Democratic primary candidates discussed it in debates and it was championed by the Movement for Black Lives. However, despite the fact we know that coverage increased during this time, we know surprisingly little about how reparations were discussed. This study analyzes the framing decisions present in opinion pieces across three of the largest U.S. national newspapers—and how these decisions interacted with public opinion polling and general election coverage in 2019 and 2020. I find that reparations were commonly discussed without mentioning any specific form. Instead, the issue framed as one of many radical and unpopular issues championed by people on the far left before the 2020 election.