I suspect the idea of reparations scares white people. Unlike like the man from the proverb, tossing starfish back into the ocean despite the impossibility of completing the task, white people become paralyzed by the enormity of the moral, physical, and financial debt owed to Black Americans and lash out. 

This lashing out is driven by white fragility, insecurity, and the VERY telling notion that justice means retribution. In fact, a few radical white people are so terrified that they would prefer a race war to reparations.