[legostormtroopr]

The key difference here, is that Japanese-Americans were imprisoned, and as such there were records about who, when, where and how long people were imprisoned.

That makes reparations very easy - if you were imprisoned unfairly, you were entitled to payment.

[eesmith]

Where's the difference?

As https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34391669 quoted from https://sf.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/HRC%20Reparations... , the list of requirements for this proposed reparation depends on records.

You can easily read "identified as ‘Black/African American’ on public documents", "proof of residency", "Record of attendance", and other things which require evidentiary records.

Even "Descendant of someone enslaved through US chattel slavery before" requires records.

[wmf]

I sense a market for DNA tests to prove that people are descended from slaves.

[feet]

Ooh I bet cops would pay so much money for access to that DNA database