A bill to study slavery reparations awaits vote in the House

JIMMIE JOHNSON: CONGRESS IS FINALLY GOING TO VOTE ON H.R. 40. IT’S A BILL TO STUDY SLAVERY REPARATIONS.

THIS IS A HUGE DEAL BECAUSE THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN THREE DECADES THAT A REPARATIONS BILL PASSED OUT OF A COMMITTEE AND WILL BE VOTED ON THE HOUSE FLOOR.

WHAT MANY PEOPLE MAY NOT KNOW, REPARATIONS AREN’T NEW. THEY’VE LONG BEEN PART OF OUR NATION’S HISTORY.

DR. ALLEN DAVIS: “Much of our history of injustice has been hidden from the American people is it’s not in textbooks, you have to go dig pretty deep to go find it.”

JIMMIE: ALLEN DAVIS, A RETIRED DEAN AND PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, HAS PUBLISHED A MASSIVE TIMELINE OF US REPARATIONS PAYMENTS.

HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES: THE FIRST KNOWN CASE FOR REPARATIONS WAS MADE BY BELINDA SUTTON.

A GHANIAN WOMAN ENSLAVED AT AGE 12 AND BROUGHT TO MASSACHUSETTS BY ISACC ROYALL.

FIFTY YEARS LATER AS A FREEDWOMAN, SUTTON TOOK HER SLAVE MASTER TO COURT AND WON RESTITUTION.

SHE GOT AN ANNUAL PENSION OF 15 POUNDS AND 12 SCHILLINGS.

BACK THEN, THAT WAS ENOUGH TO BUY A HORSE OR COVER 100 DAYS OF WAGES.

IN 1946, PRESIDENT HARRY TRUMAN SIGNED INTO LAW REPARATIONS FOR MORE THAN 130-TRIBES TO RECEIVE 818 MILLION FOR LAND ILLEGALLY SEIZED THROUGH COLONIZATION.

DR. DAVIS’S TIMELINE SHOWS MANY OTHER INSTANCES OF REPARATIONS TO NATIVE AMERICANS.

AND, ONE MORE EXAMPLE. IN 1988, PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN SIGNED THE CIVIL LIBERTIES ACT WITH $1.3 BILLION IN REPARATIONS TO JAPANESE AMERICANS INTERNED DURING WORLD WAR TWO.

THE GOVERNMENT ISSUED EACH VICTIM A $20K CHECK AND AN APOLOGY FOR THE HARM CAUSED.

THESE ARE JUST A FEW INSTANCES OF REPARATIONS MADE BY OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

AS LAWMAKERS DEBATE H.R. 40, IT’S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THERE’S A HISTORY OF REPARATIONS IN OUR COUNTRY.

YES, IT’S A COMPLEX ISSUE. A DECISION LAWMAKERS WILL ULTIMATELY HAVE TO DECIDE UPON, BUT AS HISTORY SHOWS US, IT HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE.

I WOULD LOVE TO GET YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS STORY AND WAYS WE CAN FURTHER EXPLORE THIS SUBJECT IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.