David A. Love is a writer and commentator based in Philadelphia. He contributes to publications including Atlanta Black Star, ecoWURD and Al Jazeera. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidALove. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) If you've heard of "40 acres and a mule," then you know that the concept of America paying reparations for the enslavement of black people is by no means a new idea.

The concept has been discussed since 1865 when the promise to repay -- I use that term loosely -- former slaves was made by Union Gen. William T. Sherman and then backed by President Abraham Lincoln and Congress.

As we know, the promise would be broken (when President Andrew Johnson withdrew the offer).

Since then, the national conversation around America's history with slavery and how the country should atone for its past has been pushed aside -- coming up only occasionally in pockets of discussion.

But now, and rightfully so, it seems like the importance of reparations is being brought to the forefront.