The Oak Alley Plantation in Louisiana still exists. At its height, it generated around $200 million through sugar production powered by enslaved labor. Today, it charges admission fees and continues to profit. The fact that plantations in Louisiana are preserved and monetized like tourist attractions—built on extreme violence and exploitation—is deeply disturbing.
These plantations owe a debt to the descendants of the Black people they enslaved. Their wealth, land, and continued profitability are the direct result of stolen labor, stolen lives, and generations of brutality. Any institution still benefiting from slavery’s legacy has a moral obligation to acknowledge that harm and provide reparations, not just plaques, gift shops, or sanitized history tours.
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