Ambedkar would support reparations for Black Americans. Here’s why:

Historical Justice: Ambedkar believed societies must repair the harm caused by structural oppression with moral restitution. He’d advocate for reparations — not as charity, but as justice.

Parallel between Race and Caste: In his correspondence with W.E.B. Du Bois (1946), Ambedkar called the Dalit struggle “similar to that of the Negroes in America.” He saw both systems as inherited hierarchies of birth-based subjugation. Reparations, to him, would acknowledge the “graded inequality” he often wrote about.

Redistributive Justice: Ambedkar’s economic philosophy called for redistribution of wealth and land to the oppressed. He saw state intervention as essential to creating real equality of opportunity. Reparations would align with that socialist-humanist ideal.

Moral Principle — Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Reparations are a collective act of fraternity — society recognizing shared moral responsibility for historic wrongs. Ambedkar saw fraternity as the emotional basis of democracy.