HR 40 would create a commission to study the impact of slavery and make proposals for reparations to descendants of millions of enslaved Africans.
Slavery: Not many generations removed
Oregon State Sen. Lew Frederick has a photo of himself as a young boy in 1954 standing next to his 103-year-old great-grandfather who was enslaved from birth in Mississippi. It’s a reminder that Black Americans are only a few generations removed from slavery in the U.S., and that the lasting effects of slavery and discrimination continue today.
“We have quite a family history of what took place. Certainly since Reconstruction and the way things have happened with voting rights, economic, and health issues. That’s part of my family’s legacy,” said Frederick.
House Resolution 40 would form a commission to study reparations
Twelve and a half million people were shipped in chains from Western Africa to the New World. Amid a national reckoning over race and justice, a U.S. House committee passed a bill this spring that would establish a commission to study reparation proposals to repair damage from slavery and the resulting wealth gap for Black Americans.
Cameron Whitten, the founder of the nonprofit Brown Hope, believes the time has come to make amends and heal the suffering.
“It’s very opportune we are talking about HR 40 that would establish something historic that has never happened in U.S. history, that is establishing an official commission to study the tangible impacts of slavery and other discriminatory acts against African Americans,” Whitten said.
In a historic move in April, the House Judiciary Committee voted to move forward House Resolution 40. The bill was first introduced in 1989 by the late Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan), but was never passed. Three decades later, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) is trying again. She sponsored the bill and hopes to bring it to a vote on the House floor. It would create a 13-member commission that would study the effects of slavery, hold hearings, and recommend “appropriate remedies” to Congress.
Sen. Frederick, Cameron Whitten, and historian Dr. Carmen Thompson were guests on this week’s episode of Straight Talk to discuss why reparations are needed and what they might look like.
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Watch the full episode on YouTube:
