Boston names reparations task force to study slavery’s impact

The city of Boston said Wednesday it has established the teams that will examine the city’s slave history and consider recommendations for reparations.Mayor Michelle Wu said the Boston Reparations Task Force will research and document the city’s role in and historical ties to the transatlantic slave trade and the institution and legacies of slavery. “I’m grateful to these teams of historians who will serve our city by documenting Boston’s role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the myriad legacies of slavery that continue to impact the daily lives of our city’s communities,” Mayor Michelle Wu said.Researchers will examine the city’s history from 1620 to the present, including slavery’s impact on today’s descendants. Boston City Council voted in December 2022 to form a task force to study slavery’s historic and ongoing impact on the city.Boston activists have been calling for years for the city to atone for its role in slavery. The idea of reparations was first proposed in the 1980s by Bill Owens, the first Black state senator in Massachusetts. He died in 2022. CityLine: Boston’s Reparations Task Force BOSTON — The city of Boston said Wednesday it has established the teams that will examine the city’s slave history and...