I think this piece is indicative of the environment and the problem you'd have with slavery. Time used as a tool to deny a suit.
Let's face it. Time has been used as a buffer in these cases. So FINALLY these women have come across some sort of justice but the rules are set in opposition to what would be considered just. According to these opponents of reparations, and Coates confronts this argument in his rebuttal piece that
@Poitier posted, descendants aren't due these things because of the time aspect.
So the women that are left alive after all these years now have til the end of the month to file their claim. Seems fair after the program was started 80 years ago. One of the things that sticks out to me is that these women, living and gone, have no children for that settlement to pass to. So we have nearly 100 years of these programs, years of litigation, a very short time to file your claim, and litigants that cannot pass the winnings to their offspring.
This is EXACTLY how the Tulsa case went. Those that were forced out of their homes and chased out of town had no way to file a claim. When they did, they were told that the statute of limitations had passed (it was something like 2 years if I remember correctly) and now only recently has that case been revisited. Sounds like justice will finally be served but that time aspect is being used against the children of the original claimants.
IF there is going to be an effort to compensate the descendants of slaves, the time aspect has to be brought off of the table. This convenient and sudden concern with strict adherence to legal procedure expresses the nature of the problem and ignores the goals of the legal system. The rules exist to guide the process, not stop it. America had no problem ignoring the supposed rights of black folks for hundreds of years and now when it's time to answer for that, everybody gets all uptight and nobody knows anything and it's strictly by the book. If we can enjoy the fruits of these labors, then we must be willing to pay the price for them. No such thing as a free ride.