Congressman John Conyers Jr was United States Congressman in the House of Representative for Michigan's 13th congressional district and was Congressman for 52 years being the longest-serving current member of Congress until 2017.
Every year since 1989, Congressman John Conyers, Democrat from Michigan, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, has introduced and sponsored a bill in the House of Representatives called
H.R. 40-The Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act.
The Bill states (in short form):
"To acknowledge the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission to examine the institution of slavery, subsequently de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African -Americans, and the impact of these forces on living Afrcian-Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes."
H.R. 40-The Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act.
The Bill states (in short form):
"To acknowledge the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission to examine the institution of slavery, subsequently de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African -Americans, and the impact of these forces on living Afrcian-Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes."
Every year since 1989, John Conyers has reintroduced bill H.R. 40 in the House of Representatives which establishes a commission to examines the profound effects of the institution of slavery in the United States and how it has effected African-Americans and to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies and restitution.
The Bill states (in long form):
115th CONGRESS
1st SessionH. R. 40
To address the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission to study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of slavery, its subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African-Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 3, 2017
Mr. Conyers (for himself, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Ms. Norton, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Ellison, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Clay, Mr. Gutiérrez, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Jackson Lee, and Ms. Lee) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To address the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission to study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of slavery, its subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African-Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. Short title.
This Act may be cited as the “Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act”.
SEC. 2. Findings and purpose.
(a) Findings.—The Congress finds that--
(1) approximately 4,000,000 Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and colonies that became the United States from 1619 to 1865;
(2) the institution of slavery was constitutionally and statutorily sanctioned by the Government of the United States from 1789 through 1865;
(3) the slavery that flourished in the United States constituted an immoral and inhumane deprivation of Africans’ life, liberty, African citizenship rights, and cultural heritage, and denied them the fruits of their own labor;
(4) a preponderance of scholarly, legal, community evidentiary documentation and popular culture markers constitute the basis for inquiry into the on-going effects of the institution of slavery and its legacy of persistent systemic structures of discrimination on living African-Americans and society in the United States; and
(5) following the abolition of slavery the United States Government, at the Federal, State, and local level, continued to perpetuate, condone and often profit from practices that continued to brutalize and disadvantage African-Americans, including share cropping, convict leasing, Jim Crow, redlining, unequal education, and disproportionate treatment at the hands of the criminal justice system; and
(6) as a result of the historic and continued discrimination, African-Americans continue to suffer debilitating economic, educational, and health hardships including but not limited to; having nearly 1,000,000 Black people incarcerated; an unemployment rate more than twice the current White unemployment rate; and an average of less than 1⁄16 of the wealth of White families, a disparity which has worsened, not improved over time.
(b) Purpose.—The purpose of this Act is to establish a commission to study and develop Reparation proposals for African-Americans as a result of--
(1) the institution of slavery, including both the Trans-Atlantic and the domestic “trade” which existed from 1565 in colonial Florida and from 1619 through 1865 within the other colonies that became the United States, and which included the Federal and State governments which constitutionally and statutorily supported the institution of slavery;
(2) the de jure and de facto discrimination against freed slaves and their descendants from the end of the Civil War to the present, including economic, political, educational, and social discrimination;
(3) the lingering negative effects of the institution of slavery and the discrimination described in paragraphs (1) and (2) on living African-Americans and on society in the United States;
(4) the manner in which textual and digital instructional resources and technologies are being used to deny the inhumanity of slavery and the crime against humanity of people of African descent in the United States;
(5) the role of Northern complicity in the Southern based institution of slavery;
(6) the direct benefits to societal institutions, public and private, including higher education, corporations, religious and associational;
(7) and thus, recommend appropriate ways to educate the American public of the Commission’s findings;
(8) and thus, recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the Commission’s findings on the matters described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6); and
(9) submit to the Congress the results of such examination, together with such recommendations.
SEC. 3. Establishment and duties.
(a) Establishment.—There is established the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the “Commission”).
(b) Duties.—The Commission shall perform the following duties:
(1) Identify, compile and synthesize the relevant corpus of evidentiary documentation of the institution of slavery which existed within the United States and the colonies that became the United States from 1619 through 1865. The Commission’s documentation and examination shall include but not be limited to the facts related to--
(A) the capture and procurement of Africans;
(B) the transport of Africans to the United States and the colonies that became the United States for the purpose of enslavement, including their treatment during transport;
(C) the sale and acquisition of Africans as chattel property in interstate and intrastate commerce;
(D) the treatment of African slaves in the colonies and the United States, including the deprivation of their freedom, exploitation of their labor, and destruction of their culture, language, religion, and families; and
(E) the extensive denial of humanity, sexual abuse and the chatellization of persons.
(2) The role which the Federal and State governments of the United States supported the institution of slavery in constitutional and statutory provisions, including the extent to which such governments prevented, opposed, or restricted efforts of formerly enslaved Africans and their descendents to repatriate to their homeland.
(3) The Federal and State laws that discriminated against formerly enslaved Africans and their descendents who were deemed United States citizens from 1868 to the present.
(4) The other forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed African slaves and their descendents who were deemed United States citizens from 1868 to the present, including redlining, educational funding discrepancies, and predatory financial practices.
(5) The lingering negative effects of the institution of slavery and the matters described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) on living African-Americans and on society in the United States.
(6) Recommend appropriate ways to educate the American public of the Commission’s findings.
(7) Recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the Commission’s findings on the matters described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6). In making such recommendations, the Commission shall address among other issues, the following questions:
(A) How such recommendations comport with international standards of remedy for wrongs and injuries caused by the State, that include full reparations and special measures, as understood by various relevant international protocols, laws, and findings.
(B) How the Government of the United States will offer a formal apology on behalf of the people of the United States for the perpetration of gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity on African slaves and their descendants.
(C) How Federal laws and policies that continue to disproportionately and negatively affect African-Americans as a group, and those that purpetuate the lingering effects, materially and psycho-social, can be eliminated.
(D) How the injuries resulting from matters described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) can be reversed and provide appropriate policies, programs, projects and recommendations for the purpose of reversing the injuries.
(E) How, in consideration of the Commission’s findings, any form of compensation to the descendants of enslaved African is calculated.
(F) What form of compensation should be awarded, through what instrumentalities and who should be eligible for such compensation.
(G) How, in consideration of the Commission’s findings, any other forms of rehabilitation or restitution to African descendants is warranted and what the form and scope of those measures should take.
(c) Report to congress.—The Commission shall submit a written report of its findings and recommendations to the Congress not later than the date which is one year after the date of the first meeting of the Commission held pursuant to section 4(c).
SEC. 4. Membership.
(a) Number and appointment.—(1) The Commission shall be composed of 13 members, who shall be appointed, within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, as follows:
(A) Three members shall be appointed by the President.
(B) Three members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(C) One member shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate.
(D) Six members shall be selected from the major civil society and reparations organizations that have historically championed the cause of reparatory justice.
(2) All members of the Commission shall be persons who are especially qualified to serve on the Commission by virtue of their education, training, activism or experience, particularly in the field of African-American studies and reparatory justice.
(b) Terms.—The term of office for members shall be for the life of the Commission. A vacancy in the Commission shall not affect the powers of the Commission and shall be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made.
(c) First meeting.—The President shall call the first meeting of the Commission within 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act or within 30 days after the date on which legislation is enacted making appropriations to carry out this Act, whichever date is later.
(d) Quorum.—Seven members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold hearings.
(e) Chair and vice chair.—The Commission shall elect a Chair and Vice Chair from among its members. The term of office of each shall be for the life of the Commission.
(f) Compensation.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), each member of the Commission shall receive compensation at the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay payable for GS–18 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5, United States Code, for each day, including travel time, during which he or she is engaged in the actual performance of duties vested in the Commission.
(2) A member of the Commission who is a full-time officer or employee of the United States or a Member of Congress shall receive no additional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of his or her service to the Commission.
(3) All members of the Commission shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred by them in the performance of their duties to the extent authorized by chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 5. Powers of the Commission.
(a) Hearings and sessions.—The Commission may, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, hold such hearings and sit and act at such times and at such places in the United States, and request the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the production of such books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents, as the Commission considers appropriate. The Commission may invoke the aid of an appropriate United States district court to require, by subpoena or otherwise, such attendance, testimony, or production.
(b) Powers of subcommittees and members.—Any subcommittee or member of the Commission may, if authorized by the Commission, take any action which the Commission is authorized to take by this section.
(c) Obtaining official data.—The Commission may acquire directly from the head of any department, agency, or instrumentality of the executive branch of the Government, available information which the Commission considers useful in the discharge of its duties. All departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the executive branch of the Government shall cooperate with the Commission with respect to such information and shall furnish all information requested by the Commission to the extent permitted by law.
SEC. 6. Administrative provisions.
(a) Staff.—The Commission may, without regard to section 5311(b) of title 5, United States Code, appoint and fix the compensation of such personnel as the Commission considers appropriate.
(b) Applicability of certain civil service laws.—The staff of the Commission may be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates, except that the compensation of any employee of the Commission may not exceed a rate equal to the annual rate of basic pay payable for GS–18 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5, United States Code.
(c) Experts and consultants.—The Commission may procure the services of experts and consultants in accordance with the provisions of section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, but at rates for individuals not to exceed the daily equivalent of the highest rate payable under section 5332 of such title.
(d) Administrative support services.—The Commission may enter into agreements with the Administrator of General Services for procurement of financial and administrative services necessary for the discharge of the duties of the Commission. Payment for such services shall be made by reimbursement from funds of the Commission in such amounts as may be agreed upon by the Chairman of the Commission and the Administrator.
(e) Contracts.—The Commission may--
(1) procure supplies, services, and property by contract in accordance with applicable laws and regulations and to the extent or in such amounts as are provided in appropriations Acts; and
(2) enter into contracts with departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Federal Government, State agencies, and private firms, institutions, and agencies, for the conduct of research or surveys, the preparation of reports, and other activities necessary for the discharge of the duties of the Commission, to the extent or in such amounts as are provided in appropriations Acts.
SEC. 7. Termination.
The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the date on which the Commission submits its report to the Congress under section 3(c).
SEC. 8. Authorization of appropriations.
To carry out the provisions of this Act, there are authorized to be appropriated $12,000,000.
Honorable and Impressionable would also like to thank the many Congressmen and women that have cosponsored and supported this bill in the House of Representatives in the years past and currently.
Cosponsors and Date Cosponsored
Rep. Serrano, Jose E. [D-NY-15]*01/03/2017
Rep. Green, Al [D-TX-9]*01/03/2017
Rep. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]*01/03/2017
Rep. Hastings, Alcee L. [D-FL-20]*01/03/2017
Rep. Ellison, Keith [D-MN-5]*01/03/2017
Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3]*01/03/2017
Rep. Lewis, John [D-GA-5]*01/03/2017
Rep. Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-10]*01/03/2017
Rep. Davis, Danny K. [D-IL-7]*01/03/2017
Rep. Clay, Wm. Lacy [D-MO-1]*01/03/2017
Rep. Gutierrez, Luis V. [D-IL-4]*01/03/2017
Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]*01/03/2017
Rep. Cummings, Elijah E. [D-MD-7]*01/03/2017
Rep. Meeks, Gregory W. [D-NY-5]*01/03/2017
Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]*01/03/2017
Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]*01/03/2017
Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-CA-13]*01/03/2017
Rep. Brady, Robert A. [D-PA-1]01/04/2017
Rep. Rush, Bobby L. [D-IL-1]01/04/2017
Rep. Johnson, Eddie Bernice [D-TX-30]01/04/2017
Rep. Butterfield, G. K. [D-NC-1]02/03/2017
Rep. Bishop, Sanford D., Jr. [D-GA-2]02/16/2017
Rep. Richmond, Cedric L. [D-LA-2]02/16/2017
Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2]03/01/2017
Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4]03/01/2017
Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7]03/01/2017
Rep. Wilson, Frederica S. [D-FL-24]03/29/2017
Rep. Lawrence, Brenda L. [D-MI-14]03/29/2017
The Bill states (in long form):
115th CONGRESS
1st SessionH. R. 40
To address the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission to study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of slavery, its subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African-Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 3, 2017
Mr. Conyers (for himself, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Ms. Norton, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Ellison, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Clay, Mr. Gutiérrez, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Jackson Lee, and Ms. Lee) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To address the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission to study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of slavery, its subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African-Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. Short title.
This Act may be cited as the “Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act”.
SEC. 2. Findings and purpose.
(a) Findings.—The Congress finds that--
(1) approximately 4,000,000 Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and colonies that became the United States from 1619 to 1865;
(2) the institution of slavery was constitutionally and statutorily sanctioned by the Government of the United States from 1789 through 1865;
(3) the slavery that flourished in the United States constituted an immoral and inhumane deprivation of Africans’ life, liberty, African citizenship rights, and cultural heritage, and denied them the fruits of their own labor;
(4) a preponderance of scholarly, legal, community evidentiary documentation and popular culture markers constitute the basis for inquiry into the on-going effects of the institution of slavery and its legacy of persistent systemic structures of discrimination on living African-Americans and society in the United States; and
(5) following the abolition of slavery the United States Government, at the Federal, State, and local level, continued to perpetuate, condone and often profit from practices that continued to brutalize and disadvantage African-Americans, including share cropping, convict leasing, Jim Crow, redlining, unequal education, and disproportionate treatment at the hands of the criminal justice system; and
(6) as a result of the historic and continued discrimination, African-Americans continue to suffer debilitating economic, educational, and health hardships including but not limited to; having nearly 1,000,000 Black people incarcerated; an unemployment rate more than twice the current White unemployment rate; and an average of less than 1⁄16 of the wealth of White families, a disparity which has worsened, not improved over time.
(b) Purpose.—The purpose of this Act is to establish a commission to study and develop Reparation proposals for African-Americans as a result of--
(1) the institution of slavery, including both the Trans-Atlantic and the domestic “trade” which existed from 1565 in colonial Florida and from 1619 through 1865 within the other colonies that became the United States, and which included the Federal and State governments which constitutionally and statutorily supported the institution of slavery;
(2) the de jure and de facto discrimination against freed slaves and their descendants from the end of the Civil War to the present, including economic, political, educational, and social discrimination;
(3) the lingering negative effects of the institution of slavery and the discrimination described in paragraphs (1) and (2) on living African-Americans and on society in the United States;
(4) the manner in which textual and digital instructional resources and technologies are being used to deny the inhumanity of slavery and the crime against humanity of people of African descent in the United States;
(5) the role of Northern complicity in the Southern based institution of slavery;
(6) the direct benefits to societal institutions, public and private, including higher education, corporations, religious and associational;
(7) and thus, recommend appropriate ways to educate the American public of the Commission’s findings;
(8) and thus, recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the Commission’s findings on the matters described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6); and
(9) submit to the Congress the results of such examination, together with such recommendations.
SEC. 3. Establishment and duties.
(a) Establishment.—There is established the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the “Commission”).
(b) Duties.—The Commission shall perform the following duties:
(1) Identify, compile and synthesize the relevant corpus of evidentiary documentation of the institution of slavery which existed within the United States and the colonies that became the United States from 1619 through 1865. The Commission’s documentation and examination shall include but not be limited to the facts related to--
(A) the capture and procurement of Africans;
(B) the transport of Africans to the United States and the colonies that became the United States for the purpose of enslavement, including their treatment during transport;
(C) the sale and acquisition of Africans as chattel property in interstate and intrastate commerce;
(D) the treatment of African slaves in the colonies and the United States, including the deprivation of their freedom, exploitation of their labor, and destruction of their culture, language, religion, and families; and
(E) the extensive denial of humanity, sexual abuse and the chatellization of persons.
(2) The role which the Federal and State governments of the United States supported the institution of slavery in constitutional and statutory provisions, including the extent to which such governments prevented, opposed, or restricted efforts of formerly enslaved Africans and their descendents to repatriate to their homeland.
(3) The Federal and State laws that discriminated against formerly enslaved Africans and their descendents who were deemed United States citizens from 1868 to the present.
(4) The other forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed African slaves and their descendents who were deemed United States citizens from 1868 to the present, including redlining, educational funding discrepancies, and predatory financial practices.
(5) The lingering negative effects of the institution of slavery and the matters described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) on living African-Americans and on society in the United States.
(6) Recommend appropriate ways to educate the American public of the Commission’s findings.
(7) Recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the Commission’s findings on the matters described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6). In making such recommendations, the Commission shall address among other issues, the following questions:
(A) How such recommendations comport with international standards of remedy for wrongs and injuries caused by the State, that include full reparations and special measures, as understood by various relevant international protocols, laws, and findings.
(B) How the Government of the United States will offer a formal apology on behalf of the people of the United States for the perpetration of gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity on African slaves and their descendants.
(C) How Federal laws and policies that continue to disproportionately and negatively affect African-Americans as a group, and those that purpetuate the lingering effects, materially and psycho-social, can be eliminated.
(D) How the injuries resulting from matters described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) can be reversed and provide appropriate policies, programs, projects and recommendations for the purpose of reversing the injuries.
(E) How, in consideration of the Commission’s findings, any form of compensation to the descendants of enslaved African is calculated.
(F) What form of compensation should be awarded, through what instrumentalities and who should be eligible for such compensation.
(G) How, in consideration of the Commission’s findings, any other forms of rehabilitation or restitution to African descendants is warranted and what the form and scope of those measures should take.
(c) Report to congress.—The Commission shall submit a written report of its findings and recommendations to the Congress not later than the date which is one year after the date of the first meeting of the Commission held pursuant to section 4(c).
SEC. 4. Membership.
(a) Number and appointment.—(1) The Commission shall be composed of 13 members, who shall be appointed, within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, as follows:
(A) Three members shall be appointed by the President.
(B) Three members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(C) One member shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate.
(D) Six members shall be selected from the major civil society and reparations organizations that have historically championed the cause of reparatory justice.
(2) All members of the Commission shall be persons who are especially qualified to serve on the Commission by virtue of their education, training, activism or experience, particularly in the field of African-American studies and reparatory justice.
(b) Terms.—The term of office for members shall be for the life of the Commission. A vacancy in the Commission shall not affect the powers of the Commission and shall be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made.
(c) First meeting.—The President shall call the first meeting of the Commission within 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act or within 30 days after the date on which legislation is enacted making appropriations to carry out this Act, whichever date is later.
(d) Quorum.—Seven members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold hearings.
(e) Chair and vice chair.—The Commission shall elect a Chair and Vice Chair from among its members. The term of office of each shall be for the life of the Commission.
(f) Compensation.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), each member of the Commission shall receive compensation at the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay payable for GS–18 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5, United States Code, for each day, including travel time, during which he or she is engaged in the actual performance of duties vested in the Commission.
(2) A member of the Commission who is a full-time officer or employee of the United States or a Member of Congress shall receive no additional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of his or her service to the Commission.
(3) All members of the Commission shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred by them in the performance of their duties to the extent authorized by chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 5. Powers of the Commission.
(a) Hearings and sessions.—The Commission may, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, hold such hearings and sit and act at such times and at such places in the United States, and request the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the production of such books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents, as the Commission considers appropriate. The Commission may invoke the aid of an appropriate United States district court to require, by subpoena or otherwise, such attendance, testimony, or production.
(b) Powers of subcommittees and members.—Any subcommittee or member of the Commission may, if authorized by the Commission, take any action which the Commission is authorized to take by this section.
(c) Obtaining official data.—The Commission may acquire directly from the head of any department, agency, or instrumentality of the executive branch of the Government, available information which the Commission considers useful in the discharge of its duties. All departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the executive branch of the Government shall cooperate with the Commission with respect to such information and shall furnish all information requested by the Commission to the extent permitted by law.
SEC. 6. Administrative provisions.
(a) Staff.—The Commission may, without regard to section 5311(b) of title 5, United States Code, appoint and fix the compensation of such personnel as the Commission considers appropriate.
(b) Applicability of certain civil service laws.—The staff of the Commission may be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates, except that the compensation of any employee of the Commission may not exceed a rate equal to the annual rate of basic pay payable for GS–18 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5, United States Code.
(c) Experts and consultants.—The Commission may procure the services of experts and consultants in accordance with the provisions of section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, but at rates for individuals not to exceed the daily equivalent of the highest rate payable under section 5332 of such title.
(d) Administrative support services.—The Commission may enter into agreements with the Administrator of General Services for procurement of financial and administrative services necessary for the discharge of the duties of the Commission. Payment for such services shall be made by reimbursement from funds of the Commission in such amounts as may be agreed upon by the Chairman of the Commission and the Administrator.
(e) Contracts.—The Commission may--
(1) procure supplies, services, and property by contract in accordance with applicable laws and regulations and to the extent or in such amounts as are provided in appropriations Acts; and
(2) enter into contracts with departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Federal Government, State agencies, and private firms, institutions, and agencies, for the conduct of research or surveys, the preparation of reports, and other activities necessary for the discharge of the duties of the Commission, to the extent or in such amounts as are provided in appropriations Acts.
SEC. 7. Termination.
The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the date on which the Commission submits its report to the Congress under section 3(c).
SEC. 8. Authorization of appropriations.
To carry out the provisions of this Act, there are authorized to be appropriated $12,000,000.
Honorable and Impressionable would also like to thank the many Congressmen and women that have cosponsored and supported this bill in the House of Representatives in the years past and currently.
Cosponsors and Date Cosponsored
Rep. Serrano, Jose E. [D-NY-15]*01/03/2017
Rep. Green, Al [D-TX-9]*01/03/2017
Rep. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]*01/03/2017
Rep. Hastings, Alcee L. [D-FL-20]*01/03/2017
Rep. Ellison, Keith [D-MN-5]*01/03/2017
Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3]*01/03/2017
Rep. Lewis, John [D-GA-5]*01/03/2017
Rep. Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-10]*01/03/2017
Rep. Davis, Danny K. [D-IL-7]*01/03/2017
Rep. Clay, Wm. Lacy [D-MO-1]*01/03/2017
Rep. Gutierrez, Luis V. [D-IL-4]*01/03/2017
Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]*01/03/2017
Rep. Cummings, Elijah E. [D-MD-7]*01/03/2017
Rep. Meeks, Gregory W. [D-NY-5]*01/03/2017
Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]*01/03/2017
Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]*01/03/2017
Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-CA-13]*01/03/2017
Rep. Brady, Robert A. [D-PA-1]01/04/2017
Rep. Rush, Bobby L. [D-IL-1]01/04/2017
Rep. Johnson, Eddie Bernice [D-TX-30]01/04/2017
Rep. Butterfield, G. K. [D-NC-1]02/03/2017
Rep. Bishop, Sanford D., Jr. [D-GA-2]02/16/2017
Rep. Richmond, Cedric L. [D-LA-2]02/16/2017
Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2]03/01/2017
Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4]03/01/2017
Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7]03/01/2017
Rep. Wilson, Frederica S. [D-FL-24]03/29/2017
Rep. Lawrence, Brenda L. [D-MI-14]03/29/2017
A sincere thank you and a standing ovation needs to be given to Rep. John Conyers on his tireless and continuous efforts and work on behalf of African-Americans and all Americans for pushing through this bill year after year after year since 1989 to try and open and have a nation wide discussion on the TransAtlantic slave trade and slavery in the United States and its disastrous effects.. Honorable and Impressionable would like to truly thank him for the bottom of out hearts and we are doing our parts to spread and promote information, knowledge and discussion about this bill and the need for Reparations for African-Americans that is long, long overdue.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, a Jounalist for the Atlantic monthly, is one of the most ardent and vocal supporters of Reparations for African-Americans in the United States media. His article, The Case for Reparations is a must read:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
The British government, the Vatican in Rome, the German government and the South African government all have issued formal apologies for their official roles and engagement in the enslavement of African people over the last 400 to 500 years and the United States Congress apologized to African-Americans for slavery in 2009, though it came with a provision that the formal apology could not be used as legal rationale for reparations.
So what does the American public have to said about the related topic of Reparations?
According to nbc.com, a poll taking in 2016 revealed that "nearly seven in 10 Americans oppose paying reparations to African-Americans, opinions skewing along racial lines. The Exclusive Point Taken-Marist study showed while white Americans overwhelmingly oppose restitution, a majority of African-Americans favor redress; Latino Americans were about evenly divided. Older generations were more likely to oppose reparations while more than half of Millennials favored it."And what about the opinions and sentiments of political past and present U.S. officials relating to the topic of reparations for slavery?
And what about the opinions and sentiments of political past and present U.S. officials relating to the topic of reparations for slavery?
We will take a look into direct quotes from the most well known individuals in politics towards this contenous hot topic.
Bill Clinton
Former President Bill Clinton is on the record stating that he does not favor compensating the victims of slavery because "The nation is so many generations removed from that era that reparations for black Americans may not be possible". Clinton made it clear he does not favor compensation, however, he does favor possibly extending an apology to Africans-Americans for their ancestors' suffering. "I think it has to be dealt with. There's still some unfinished business out there among black and white Americans Clinton said."Moreover, Clinton claimed that rather than pay out reparations to African-Americans, something that the United States government and European governments have done towards Japanese-Americans, Native-Americans and Jews in the past," the nation needs to continue to work to erase the effects of past discrimination."
President Bill Clinton, while in Africa in 1998, apologized for the slave trade, but not for a government that institutionalized white supremacy during its first four score and change
www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/bernie-sanders-reparations/424602/
" President Bill Clinton, while in Africa in 1998, apologized for the slave trade, but not for a government that institutionalized white supremacy during its first four score and change." https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/opinion/an-apology-for-slavery.html?_r=0
Bernie Sanders
The Vermont senator joined 18 colleagues in co-sponsoring the Holocaust Rail Justice Act, a bill to help survivors and families sue France’s national railway company, SNCF, for reparations.
A group of victims' families called the Coalition for Holocaust Rail Justice pushed for a decade to get the railway to pay because it carried tens of thousands of Jews and other prisoners from France to German camps. SNCF officials have apologized and argued that the Nazis forced the railway to do it.
The Sanders-sponsored bill never came up for a vote. But in 2014, France agreed to send the U.S. State Department $60 million to be distributed to American Holocaust survivors and victims' families. After the deal was announced, Sen. Chuck Schumer, one of the lead sponsors of the Holocaust Rail Justice Act, credited the bill for helping make the payments possible.
http://fusion.kinja.com/bernie-sanders-and-hillary-clinton-both-supported-repar-1793854216
But when it was time for Bernie Sanders to offer his sentiments for the case of African-Americans to recieve Reparations he said:
"No, I don’t think so. First of all, its likelihood of getting through Congress is nil. Second of all, I think it would be very divisive. The real issue is when we look at the poverty rate among the African American community, when we look at the high unemployment rate within the African American community, we have a lot of work to do.
So I think what we should be talking about is making massive investments in rebuilding our cities, in creating millions of decent paying jobs, in making public colleges and universities tuition-free, basically targeting our federal resources to the areas where it is needed the most and where it is needed the most is in impoverished communities, often African American and Latino." www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/bernie-sanders-reparations/424602/
Hillary Clinton
"Sanders is not the only Democratic candidate who supports Holocaust reparations without supporting reparations for atrocities that happened on American soil.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked about slavery reparations at Fusion's Iowa Brown & Black Forum and did not give a direct answer. She argued instead for more investment in underprivileged communities, citing a proposal from the Congressional Black Caucus.
Clinton, too, has a history of explicit support for Holocaust reparations. During her husband’s administration, she was given an award by the World Jewish Congress for helping obtain reparations from the Swiss and German governments
Some advocates for Holocaust reparations said they felt that Clinton's contribution was overstated and that the award was political. Clinton herself played down her role in winning the payments but was clear in her support for the payments.
During her 2000 Senate campaign, Clinton was asked about the award, her position on Holocaust reparations, and whether she would endorse slavery reparations. Without answering directly, she said that "we have some mental and emotional and psychological reparations to pay first."
“We do owe … an apology to African-Americans for hundreds of years of slavery," she said, "but I think that the people I know and the people I work with want us to stay focused on the future, keep our economy going, keep providing good public education, quality affordable healthcare—do the things that will enable people to have the best futures for themselves, and that's what I'm committed to doing.”
http://fusion.kinja.com/bernie-sanders-and-hillary-clinton-both-supported-repar-1793854216
Barack Obama
"Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama opposes offering reparations to the descendants of slaves, putting him at odds with some black groups and leaders.The first black man to win a major-party presidential nomination argues that government should instead combat the legacy of slavery by improving schools, health care and the economy for all.
“I have said in the past - and I’ll repeat again - that the best reparations we can provide are good schools in the inner city and jobs for people who are unemployed,” the Illinois Democrat said recently.
Some two dozen members of Congress are co-sponsors of legislation to create a commission that would study reparations - that is, payments and programs to offset the effects of slavery among black Americans.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) supports the legislation. Cities across the country, including Mr. Obama’s home of Chicago, have endorsed the idea, and so has a major union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Mr. Obama has worked to be seen as someone who will bring people together, not divide them into various interest groups with checklists of demands. Supporting reparations could undermine that image and make him appear to be pandering to black voters."
“Let’s not be naive. Senator Obama is running for president of the United States, and so he is in a constant battle to save his political life,” said Kibibi Tyehimba, co-chairwoman of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America. “In light of the demographics of this country, I don’t think it’s realistic to expect him to do anything other than what he’s done.”But this is not a position that Mr. Obama adopted just for the presidential campaign. He voiced the same concerns about reparations during his successful run for the Senate in 2004, when he told the NAACP in a questionnaire: “I fear that reparations would be an excuse for some to say, ‘We’ve paid our debt,’ and to avoid the much harder work.”
But there’s enough flexibility in the term “reparations” that Mr. Obama can oppose them and still have plenty of common ground with supporters.
The NAACP says reparations could take the form of government programs to help struggling people of all races. The National Urban League - a group Mr. Obama addressed Saturday without mentioning the issue in his speech - avoids the word “reparations” as too vague and inflammatory but says the government must act to close the gaps between white America and black America.
The House voted last week to apologize for slavery. The resolution, which was approved on a voice vote, does not mention reparations, but past opponents have argued that an apology would increase pressure for concrete action.
Mr. Obama says an apology would be appropriate but not particularly helpful in improving the lives of black Americans.
Pressed for his position on apologizing to blacks or offering reparations, Mr. Obama said at a recent conference of minority journalists that he was more interested in health care and education programs, which he said would benefits minorities disproportionately.
One reparations advocate, Vernellia Randall, a law professor at the University of Dayton, bluntly responded: “I think he’s dead wrong.”
She said aid to the poor in general won’t close racial gaps - poor blacks would still trail poor whites, and middle-class blacks would still lag behind middle-class whites. Instead, assistance must be aimed directly at the people facing the effects of slavery and Jim Crow laws, she said.
“People say he can’t run and get elected if he says those kinds of things,” Ms. Randall said. “I’m like, well does that mean we’re really not ready for a black president?”
"Obama hasn’t endorsed the reparations idea. During a presidential primary debate on CNN July 24, 2007, he suggested that he favored spending to improve education instead.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper: Senator Obama, your position on reparations?
Obama: I think the reparations we need right here in South Carolina is investment, for example, in our schools. I did a . . .I did a town hall meeting in Florence, South Carolina, in an area called the corridor of shame. They’ve got buildings that students are trying to learn in that were built right after the Civil War. And we’ve got teachers who are not trained to teach the subjects they’re teaching and high dropout rates.
We’ve got to understand that there are corridors of shame all across the country. And if we make the investments and understand that those are our children, that’s the kind of reparations that are really going to make a difference in America right now.
When Cooper asked all eight of the Democratic presidential candidates whether any of them favored reparations, only Rep. Dennis Kucinich said yes: "I am. The Bible says we shall be and must be repairers of the breach. And a breach has occurred."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/03/obama-stands-firm-against-reparations/
So what does the American public have to said about the related topic of Reparations?
According to nbc.com, a poll taking in 2016 revealed that "nearly seven in 10 Americans oppose paying reparations to African-Americans, opinions skewing along racial lines. The Exclusive Point Taken-Marist study showed while white Americans overwhelmingly oppose restitution, a majority of African-Americans favor redress; Latino Americans were about evenly divided. Older generations were more likely to oppose reparations while more than half of Millennials favored it."And what about the opinions and sentiments of political past and present U.S. officials relating to the topic of reparations for slavery?
And what about the opinions and sentiments of political past and present U.S. officials relating to the topic of reparations for slavery?
We will take a look into direct quotes from the most well known individuals in politics towards this contenous hot topic.
Bill Clinton
Former President Bill Clinton is on the record stating that he does not favor compensating the victims of slavery because "The nation is so many generations removed from that era that reparations for black Americans may not be possible". Clinton made it clear he does not favor compensation, however, he does favor possibly extending an apology to Africans-Americans for their ancestors' suffering. "I think it has to be dealt with. There's still some unfinished business out there among black and white Americans Clinton said."Moreover, Clinton claimed that rather than pay out reparations to African-Americans, something that the United States government and European governments have done towards Japanese-Americans, Native-Americans and Jews in the past," the nation needs to continue to work to erase the effects of past discrimination."
President Bill Clinton, while in Africa in 1998, apologized for the slave trade, but not for a government that institutionalized white supremacy during its first four score and change
www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/bernie-sanders-reparations/424602/
" President Bill Clinton, while in Africa in 1998, apologized for the slave trade, but not for a government that institutionalized white supremacy during its first four score and change." https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/opinion/an-apology-for-slavery.html?_r=0
Bernie Sanders
The Vermont senator joined 18 colleagues in co-sponsoring the Holocaust Rail Justice Act, a bill to help survivors and families sue France’s national railway company, SNCF, for reparations.
A group of victims' families called the Coalition for Holocaust Rail Justice pushed for a decade to get the railway to pay because it carried tens of thousands of Jews and other prisoners from France to German camps. SNCF officials have apologized and argued that the Nazis forced the railway to do it.
The Sanders-sponsored bill never came up for a vote. But in 2014, France agreed to send the U.S. State Department $60 million to be distributed to American Holocaust survivors and victims' families. After the deal was announced, Sen. Chuck Schumer, one of the lead sponsors of the Holocaust Rail Justice Act, credited the bill for helping make the payments possible.
http://fusion.kinja.com/bernie-sanders-and-hillary-clinton-both-supported-repar-1793854216
But when it was time for Bernie Sanders to offer his sentiments for the case of African-Americans to recieve Reparations he said:
"No, I don’t think so. First of all, its likelihood of getting through Congress is nil. Second of all, I think it would be very divisive. The real issue is when we look at the poverty rate among the African American community, when we look at the high unemployment rate within the African American community, we have a lot of work to do.
So I think what we should be talking about is making massive investments in rebuilding our cities, in creating millions of decent paying jobs, in making public colleges and universities tuition-free, basically targeting our federal resources to the areas where it is needed the most and where it is needed the most is in impoverished communities, often African American and Latino." www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/bernie-sanders-reparations/424602/
Hillary Clinton
"Sanders is not the only Democratic candidate who supports Holocaust reparations without supporting reparations for atrocities that happened on American soil.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked about slavery reparations at Fusion's Iowa Brown & Black Forum and did not give a direct answer. She argued instead for more investment in underprivileged communities, citing a proposal from the Congressional Black Caucus.
Clinton, too, has a history of explicit support for Holocaust reparations. During her husband’s administration, she was given an award by the World Jewish Congress for helping obtain reparations from the Swiss and German governments
Some advocates for Holocaust reparations said they felt that Clinton's contribution was overstated and that the award was political. Clinton herself played down her role in winning the payments but was clear in her support for the payments.
During her 2000 Senate campaign, Clinton was asked about the award, her position on Holocaust reparations, and whether she would endorse slavery reparations. Without answering directly, she said that "we have some mental and emotional and psychological reparations to pay first."
“We do owe … an apology to African-Americans for hundreds of years of slavery," she said, "but I think that the people I know and the people I work with want us to stay focused on the future, keep our economy going, keep providing good public education, quality affordable healthcare—do the things that will enable people to have the best futures for themselves, and that's what I'm committed to doing.”
http://fusion.kinja.com/bernie-sanders-and-hillary-clinton-both-supported-repar-1793854216
Barack Obama
"Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama opposes offering reparations to the descendants of slaves, putting him at odds with some black groups and leaders.The first black man to win a major-party presidential nomination argues that government should instead combat the legacy of slavery by improving schools, health care and the economy for all.
“I have said in the past - and I’ll repeat again - that the best reparations we can provide are good schools in the inner city and jobs for people who are unemployed,” the Illinois Democrat said recently.
Some two dozen members of Congress are co-sponsors of legislation to create a commission that would study reparations - that is, payments and programs to offset the effects of slavery among black Americans.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) supports the legislation. Cities across the country, including Mr. Obama’s home of Chicago, have endorsed the idea, and so has a major union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Mr. Obama has worked to be seen as someone who will bring people together, not divide them into various interest groups with checklists of demands. Supporting reparations could undermine that image and make him appear to be pandering to black voters."
“Let’s not be naive. Senator Obama is running for president of the United States, and so he is in a constant battle to save his political life,” said Kibibi Tyehimba, co-chairwoman of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America. “In light of the demographics of this country, I don’t think it’s realistic to expect him to do anything other than what he’s done.”But this is not a position that Mr. Obama adopted just for the presidential campaign. He voiced the same concerns about reparations during his successful run for the Senate in 2004, when he told the NAACP in a questionnaire: “I fear that reparations would be an excuse for some to say, ‘We’ve paid our debt,’ and to avoid the much harder work.”
But there’s enough flexibility in the term “reparations” that Mr. Obama can oppose them and still have plenty of common ground with supporters.
The NAACP says reparations could take the form of government programs to help struggling people of all races. The National Urban League - a group Mr. Obama addressed Saturday without mentioning the issue in his speech - avoids the word “reparations” as too vague and inflammatory but says the government must act to close the gaps between white America and black America.
The House voted last week to apologize for slavery. The resolution, which was approved on a voice vote, does not mention reparations, but past opponents have argued that an apology would increase pressure for concrete action.
Mr. Obama says an apology would be appropriate but not particularly helpful in improving the lives of black Americans.
Pressed for his position on apologizing to blacks or offering reparations, Mr. Obama said at a recent conference of minority journalists that he was more interested in health care and education programs, which he said would benefits minorities disproportionately.
One reparations advocate, Vernellia Randall, a law professor at the University of Dayton, bluntly responded: “I think he’s dead wrong.”
She said aid to the poor in general won’t close racial gaps - poor blacks would still trail poor whites, and middle-class blacks would still lag behind middle-class whites. Instead, assistance must be aimed directly at the people facing the effects of slavery and Jim Crow laws, she said.
“People say he can’t run and get elected if he says those kinds of things,” Ms. Randall said. “I’m like, well does that mean we’re really not ready for a black president?”
"Obama hasn’t endorsed the reparations idea. During a presidential primary debate on CNN July 24, 2007, he suggested that he favored spending to improve education instead.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper: Senator Obama, your position on reparations?
Obama: I think the reparations we need right here in South Carolina is investment, for example, in our schools. I did a . . .I did a town hall meeting in Florence, South Carolina, in an area called the corridor of shame. They’ve got buildings that students are trying to learn in that were built right after the Civil War. And we’ve got teachers who are not trained to teach the subjects they’re teaching and high dropout rates.
We’ve got to understand that there are corridors of shame all across the country. And if we make the investments and understand that those are our children, that’s the kind of reparations that are really going to make a difference in America right now.
When Cooper asked all eight of the Democratic presidential candidates whether any of them favored reparations, only Rep. Dennis Kucinich said yes: "I am. The Bible says we shall be and must be repairers of the breach. And a breach has occurred."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/03/obama-stands-firm-against-reparations/
H. RES. 194
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
July 29, 2008
RESOLUTION
Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans.
Whereas millions of Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and the 13 American colonies from 1619 through 1865;
Whereas slavery in America resembled no other form of involuntary servitude known in history, as Africans were captured and sold at auction like inanimate objects or animals;
Whereas Africans forced into slavery were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized, and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage;
Whereas enslaved families were torn apart after having been sold separately from one another;
Whereas the system of slavery and the visceral racism against persons of African descent upon which it depended became entrenched in the Nation’s social fabric;
Whereas slavery was not officially abolished until the passage of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865 after the end of the Civil War;
Whereas after emancipation from 246 years of slavery, African-Americans soon saw the fleeting political, social, and economic gains they made during Reconstruction eviscerated by virulent racism, lynchings, disenfranchisement, Black Codes, and racial segregation laws that imposed a rigid system of officially sanctioned racial segregation in virtually all areas of life;
Whereas the system of de jure racial segregation known as Jim Crow, which arose in certain parts of the Nation following the Civil War to create separate and unequal societies for whites and African-Americans, was a direct result of the racism against persons of African descent engendered by slavery;
Whereas a century after the official end of slavery in America, Federal action was required during the 1960s to eliminate the dejure and defacto system of Jim Crow throughout parts of the Nation, though its vestiges still linger to this day;
Whereas African-Americans continue to suffer from the complex interplay between slavery and Jim Crow—long after both systems were formally abolished—through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity;
Whereas the story of the enslavement and de jure segregation of African-Americans and the dehumanizing atrocities committed against them should not be purged from or minimized in the telling of American history;
Whereas on July 8, 2003, during a trip to Goree Island, Senegal, a former slave port, President George W. Bush acknowledged slavery’s continuing legacy in American life and the need to confront that legacy when he stated that slavery was . . . one of the greatest crimes of history . . . The racial bigotry fed by slavery did not end with slavery or with segregation. And many of the issues that still trouble America have roots in the bitter experience of other times. But however long the journey, our destiny is set: liberty and justice for all.;
Whereas President Bill Clinton also acknowledged the deep-seated problems caused by the continuing legacy of racism against African-Americans that began with slavery when he initiated a national dialogue about race;
Whereas a genuine apology is an important and necessary first step in the process of racial reconciliation;
Whereas an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization and injustices cannot erase the past, but confession of the wrongs committed can speed racial healing and reconciliation and help Americans confront the ghosts of their past;
Whereas the legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia has recently taken the lead in adopting a resolution officially expressing appropriate remorse for slavery and other State legislatures have adopted or are considering similar resolutions; and
Whereas it is important for this country, which legally recognized slavery through its Constitution and its laws, to make a formal apology for slavery and for its successor, Jim Crow, so that it can move forward and seek reconciliation, justice, and harmony for all of its citizens: Now, therefore, be it
That the House of Representatives--
(1)acknowledges that slavery is incompatible with the basic founding principles recognized in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal;
(2)acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow;
(3)apologizes to African Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow; and
(4)expresses its commitment to rectify the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African Americans under slavery and Jim Crow and to stop the occurrence of human rights violations in the future.
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
July 29, 2008
RESOLUTION
Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans.
Whereas millions of Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and the 13 American colonies from 1619 through 1865;
Whereas slavery in America resembled no other form of involuntary servitude known in history, as Africans were captured and sold at auction like inanimate objects or animals;
Whereas Africans forced into slavery were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized, and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage;
Whereas enslaved families were torn apart after having been sold separately from one another;
Whereas the system of slavery and the visceral racism against persons of African descent upon which it depended became entrenched in the Nation’s social fabric;
Whereas slavery was not officially abolished until the passage of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865 after the end of the Civil War;
Whereas after emancipation from 246 years of slavery, African-Americans soon saw the fleeting political, social, and economic gains they made during Reconstruction eviscerated by virulent racism, lynchings, disenfranchisement, Black Codes, and racial segregation laws that imposed a rigid system of officially sanctioned racial segregation in virtually all areas of life;
Whereas the system of de jure racial segregation known as Jim Crow, which arose in certain parts of the Nation following the Civil War to create separate and unequal societies for whites and African-Americans, was a direct result of the racism against persons of African descent engendered by slavery;
Whereas a century after the official end of slavery in America, Federal action was required during the 1960s to eliminate the dejure and defacto system of Jim Crow throughout parts of the Nation, though its vestiges still linger to this day;
Whereas African-Americans continue to suffer from the complex interplay between slavery and Jim Crow—long after both systems were formally abolished—through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity;
Whereas the story of the enslavement and de jure segregation of African-Americans and the dehumanizing atrocities committed against them should not be purged from or minimized in the telling of American history;
Whereas on July 8, 2003, during a trip to Goree Island, Senegal, a former slave port, President George W. Bush acknowledged slavery’s continuing legacy in American life and the need to confront that legacy when he stated that slavery was . . . one of the greatest crimes of history . . . The racial bigotry fed by slavery did not end with slavery or with segregation. And many of the issues that still trouble America have roots in the bitter experience of other times. But however long the journey, our destiny is set: liberty and justice for all.;
Whereas President Bill Clinton also acknowledged the deep-seated problems caused by the continuing legacy of racism against African-Americans that began with slavery when he initiated a national dialogue about race;
Whereas a genuine apology is an important and necessary first step in the process of racial reconciliation;
Whereas an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization and injustices cannot erase the past, but confession of the wrongs committed can speed racial healing and reconciliation and help Americans confront the ghosts of their past;
Whereas the legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia has recently taken the lead in adopting a resolution officially expressing appropriate remorse for slavery and other State legislatures have adopted or are considering similar resolutions; and
Whereas it is important for this country, which legally recognized slavery through its Constitution and its laws, to make a formal apology for slavery and for its successor, Jim Crow, so that it can move forward and seek reconciliation, justice, and harmony for all of its citizens: Now, therefore, be it
That the House of Representatives--
(1)acknowledges that slavery is incompatible with the basic founding principles recognized in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal;
(2)acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow;
(3)apologizes to African Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow; and
(4)expresses its commitment to rectify the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African Americans under slavery and Jim Crow and to stop the occurrence of human rights violations in the future.
The Reparations Assessment Group
"The Dream Team"
"The Dream Team"
The famed, late great Johnny Cochran
Randall Robinson
What is the Reparations Assessment Group?
Harvard Law professor Charles J. Ogletree in an interview with the Washinton Post.com in November 4, 2000 confirmed that there is a project spearheaded by a group of civil rights and class-action lawyers who have been preparing and working on a lawsuit seeking rearations for African-Americans in the United States. He also noted that the group first met to discuss precedings in 2000. The entities in the crosshairs of legal action are the federal goverment, state goverments and public and private companies that benefitted from slave labor over the last 3 centuries.
Alexander Pires was quoted as saying "This will be the most important case in the history of our country. We all agree the suit has to tell the story of what slavery has done to blacks in America."
Lawyers working on the project:
Alexander J. Pires Jr
Richard Scruggs
Dennis C. Sweet III
Willie E. Gary
Randall Robinson
Harvard Law professor Charles J. Ogletree in an interview with the Washinton Post.com in November 4, 2000 confirmed that there is a project spearheaded by a group of civil rights and class-action lawyers who have been preparing and working on a lawsuit seeking rearations for African-Americans in the United States. He also noted that the group first met to discuss precedings in 2000. The entities in the crosshairs of legal action are the federal goverment, state goverments and public and private companies that benefitted from slave labor over the last 3 centuries.
Alexander Pires was quoted as saying "This will be the most important case in the history of our country. We all agree the suit has to tell the story of what slavery has done to blacks in America."
Lawyers working on the project:
Alexander J. Pires Jr
Richard Scruggs
Dennis C. Sweet III
Willie E. Gary
Randall Robinson
People still underestimate the overall cost of the slave trade. Here we have a short list from USA Today which provides a monetary breakdown of the costs of the slave trade:
1850
The Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad, part of CSX today, paid slave owners $30 to $150 apiece to rent slaves for a year.
Price in 1850: $150
In today's dollars: $3,379
1856
The Mobile & Girard, now part of Norfolk Southern, offered slaveholders $180 apiece for slaves they would rent to the railroad for one year.
1856: $180
Today: $3,737
1859
The Central of Georgia, a Norfolk Southern line today, valued its slaves at $31,303.
1859: $31,303
Today: $663,033
1865
The Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad, today part of CSX, placed a value of $128,773 on the slaves it lost as a result of emancipation at the conclusion of the Civil War.
1865: $128,773
Today: $1.4 million
1865
The Mobile & Ohio, now part of Canadian National, valued slaves lost to the war and emancipation at $199,691.
1865: $199,691
Today: $2.2 million
Sources: Economic History Services, USA TODAY research
https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/general/2002/02/21/slave-reparations.htm
There is a list of U.S. companies that are accused of profiting and trading of African slaves and labor in which there are 19 large companies named in a class action lawsuit seeking reparations.
Here is a list of the few companies named in the lawsuit:
Aetna Inc.
CSX Corporation
New York Life Insurance
R.J Reynolds Tobacco
J.P. Morgan Chase
American International Group (AIG)
WestPoint Stevens
Knight Ridder Tribune
Media General
Advance Publications
E.W. Scripps
Gannett
www.nytimes.com/2002/03/27/nyregion/companies-are-sued-for-slave-reparations.html