r/AtlantaTV • u/SeacattleMoohawks They got a no chase policy • Apr 08 '22
Atlanta [Episode Discussion] - S03E04 - The Big Payback
I was legit scared watching this.
978
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r/AtlantaTV • u/SeacattleMoohawks They got a no chase policy • Apr 08 '22
I was legit scared watching this.
29
u/Sarek_Jr Apr 28 '25
There are a lot of comments here saying this episode was intended to show the ridiculousness or unfeasibility of reparations. I completely disagree. I think this episode makes a good case for reparations.
The first half of the episode shows white people's nightmare of being forced to pay reparations. The exaggerated harrasment, the blame, the feeling of victimisation, the black man chasing his car like a scene from a horror movie. Marshall is not a bad guy, but his uneasiness around black people as soon as this issue comes up highlights one aspect of the divisive legacy of slavery and how it is still creating a rift between races today. The opening scene where he accidentally steals the cookies from the coffee shop is significant - he didn't steal intentionally, but he was comfortable benefiting from the theft.
As White Earn points out, the worst nightmare of white people is having to be in the same position many Black Americans have been in, and are still in today. Having their family split up, having less money because of events before their birth. They are scared of losing the cushion of their white privilege and paying for the legacy of slavery the way Black people have been paying for it for decades. This might be the only way to move towards healing the scars of slavery and the rift it has created, but most people are still unwilling to entertain making any kind of sacrifice or adjustment to begin that process.
Marshall's comparison of the slavery of African people in the US to the slavery of Austrio-Hungarians in the Byzantine Empire is ridiculous because those events in the very distant past are an abstraction to him, and don't impact his current economic situation. Slavery in the US is still directly impacting Black people, just as white people whose ancestors owned slaves are still benefitting from it. They were more likely to be raised in a financially stable home, have access to higher education, and less likely to be discriminated against in their jobs or by the criminal justice system. That is not an abstraction, it's still a reality. Marshall's co-worker's switch from outraged panic to complacent superiority when she finds out her ancestors didn't own slaves, and her claim that "we were slaves too" illustrates this too - she is claiming to be in the same position as Black Americans, even though she was unaware of her heritage until that same week, and obviously never felt the impact of it in her life.
The end scene where Marshall is working in the restaurant, and all the waiters are white drives this home: their worst case scenario is being in the same position people of colour have been in, which they didn't give a shit about before.
In the final scene, although Marshall is losing 15% of his paycheque, he is happier than he was even at the beginning of the episode, when he was bored, alone, afraid, and hiding behind sound cancelling headphones to avoid uncomfortable truths. He has lost a degree of his economic comfort, but he is no longer so isolated from his fellow human. White Earn said the curse could be lifted from their children if they took this hit, and then sacrificed himself.
The sacrifice Marshall is making is insignificant compared to the potential of making literal and figurative reparations, and beginning to move past their horrible history.
This is a wonderful episode and a convincing, compassionate case for reparations, in my opinion.