Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

Keywords

reparations, restitution

Abstract

The magnitude of harms like white supremacy makes it difficult to precisely identify losses, let alone remedy them. Piecemeal approaches are essential, and private efforts may be the only option when public law and cultural norms deny or perpetuate the harms. This Article addresses one racial harm, the 10:1 racial wealth gap between white and black Americans, in the context of residential segregation over the past century. It contends that the equitable doctrine of restitution enables us to recognize and remedy the unjust enrichment enjoyed by white Baby Boomers caused by private law mechanisms such as racially restrictive covenants, all at the expense of African Americans. It then offers a reparative framework aimed primarily at beneficiaries of the “great wealth transfer” of the $84 trillion that white Boomers will pass on to their mostly-white descendants. At the level of theory DIY Reparations grounds these do-it-yourself reparations in the spiritual roots and inherent flexibility of equity and the nascent theory of alternative legalities (aka prefigurative law). Most provocatively, the Article moves beyond litigation and legislation to contend that white beneficiaries of racial unjust enrichment can and should disgorge themselves of at least some of those ill-gotten gains even if law does not (yet) so require. Just as same-sex couples’ commitment ceremonies – and cohabitation contracts – in the 1990s paved the way to marriage equality, DIY reparations could help public law and society make progress toward reparations for racial injustices such as residential segregation. The Article concludes by putting this doctrine and theory to work in real-life examples that ordinary people of good faith perform DIY reparations, from personal consumptive practices like seeking out black-owned restaurants or other service providers to big ticket items like landback agreements.

Publication Citation

Rutgers Race and the Law Review (forthcoming 2026)

Disciplines

Civil Rights and Discrimination | Contracts | Law

Download

Share

COinS