Reparations Forever

New York City recently took a small step forward in correcting historical wrongs—at least, that’s what lawmakers would have you believe. The city council has passed a legislative package that would “fully examine the present-day impacts of injustices inflicted on Black New Yorkers and communities” and “advance necessary efforts to consider potential remedies that can lead to healing and reconciliation.” These bills, now bound for the desk of Mayor Eric Adams for his signature, include the establishment of “a Truth, Healing and Reconciliation process on slavery within New York City” and a “reparations study” to determine how much money is owed to black New Yorkers because of slavery, abolished statewide in 1827.  The new bills complement New York’s statewide Community Commission on Reparations Remedies, which held its inaugural meeting this summer. The state commission will explore the “lingering negative effects of the institution of slavery and discrimination on living people of African descent and on society in the State of New York,” with a view to recommending “appropriate remedies and reparations” thereto. The chairwoman of the state commission, Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, who also headed up the New York City Racial Justice Commission,...