The major arguments about reparations, going back to Coates's ATLANTIC piece, do not focus solely on slavery. They focus on the red-lining, segregation, and predatory lending that prevented freed black people from accumulating wealth over the years.
Even more MCCONNELL on reparations: "I think we're always a work in progress in this country, but no one currently alive was responsible for that, and I don't think we should be trying to figure out how to compensate for it."