Reparations were paid.
They were paid with every drop of Union soldiers’ blood.
They were paid with every limb lost.
They were paid with every eye blinded.
They were paid with every act of inhumane treatment at Andersonville.
They were paid with every life at Gettysburg.
They were paid with every bullet, grapeshot and cannonball.
And Robert E. Lee signed the check, “Paid in full.”.....................
I would also say that they were paid with every drop of CSA blood shed. That was not the intention of those whose blood was shed, but it was what it ended up going towards—and it was the intention of many who shed the blood.
Not all of the North wanted to do away with slavery, and not all of the South that wanted freedom from the North was all that attached to slavery, but in the end the South opted to both submit to the Union yoke which meant kissing slavery good by, whether one liked it or not, and write off all of the blood that had been shed for the sake of a freedom which the South had desired.
Yes, there was more to do after 1865, but much was done and it is too late to do anything more for those who were slaves.
Affirmative Action, welfare, food stamps, lowering of admission standards, HUD, Fair Housing Act...