New York City will soon be the largest city in the United States to enact a reparations program.
Councilmembers Crystal Hudson and Farah Louis sponsored a pair of bills to establish a Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Commission and a reparations task force. Both bills passed on Thursday and will be effective immediately.
“Today, the New York City Council voted to pass legislation establishing municipal efforts to acknowledge and address the legacy and impact of slavery and racial injustices in New York City,” the New York City council announced in a press release. “The package of legislation would establish a Truth, Healing and Reconciliation process on slavery within New York City (which had one of the highest rates of slave ownership in the country in the 1700s), a reparations study, informational signs at the City’s first slave market, and a taskforce to consider the creation of a ‘freedom trail’ commemorating abolitionist movement and Underground Railroad sites.”
The press release detailed how the commission would “establish facts about slavery in New York City and its ongoing legacies, protect and acknowledge affected persons and communities, and recommend changes for government and institutions to prevent the perpetuation and recurrence of injustices from the legacy of slavery.”
