It isn't reductionist thinking. It's math. It isn't ancient history, either. Forget about the fact that most of the wealth in this country was once held in the form of Black bodies. After WW2, in the US, the government deliberately pushed Black people into segregated housing projects. The government turned around and spent more money, per capita, on helping White people obtain mortgages to buy their own homes. Black people who DID manage to attain home ownership found their neighborhoods redlined and their property to be undervalued by banks (blocking a valuable source of equity).

An especially annoying part of this process is that many of the White racists who benefited from this system, who were able to build inter-generational wealth (most peoples' net worth derives from their homes) then had the nerve to turn around and accuse Black people of looking for handouts when the subject of reparations comes up.

You want this to be about reductionist thinking? Okay, how about this: Why is it that 12% of the US population (Black people) possesses 1% of its wealth (and is on the way to a negative net worth in the coming decades). Do you think that Black people are stupider than White people? Lazier? Less interested in education? What? I don't imagine you subscribe (or would admit) to such actively racist ideas. So, reduce that for me.