Experts propose a hybrid 'lineage by atrocity' eligibility approach for reparations

Dr. Thomas Kramer, a co‑lead on the study's evaluation and policy team, framed eligibility as a central and contested question — contrasting a race‑based criterion (eligibility by self‑identifying as Black) with a lineage approach (eligibility limited to descendants of enslaved people in the United States). Kramer said the race‑based model is straightforward to apply but vulnerable to constitutional challenge; a lineage approach narrows eligibility but is more legally defensible. He proposed a hybrid "lineage by atrocity" approach that aims to capture slavery's central harms while allowing other victims of later government discrimination to receive remedies.

Commissioners and study leads debated the practical and symbolic consequences of different definitions. Kramer and others emphasized that loss estimates are separate from administrable payment schemes: "We distinguish a race based concept... and the lineage approach... the advantages would be more robust to supreme court challenges," Kramer said. The study team said community input will be decisive for modalities and that some harms may be acknowledged even if full restitution is fiscally unrealistic.