City Council Holds Historic Hearing On Reparations
By Donna Lamb
TBWT Guest Contributor
Article Dated 7/22/2002
It was an historic moment. The City Council of New York held its first
hearing on the subject of reparations to the descendants of enslaved
Africans.
This landmark hearing was conducted by the Governmental Operations
Committee, Chaired by Deputy Majority Leader Bill Perkins. Councilman
Charles Barron, the prime sponsor of four reparations Resolutions,
joined him. "This hearing speaks to the momentum of the reparations
movement that is sweeping New York City and the nation," said
Barron. "Africans built New York City's infrastructure and economy and
were never paid. It's time that we as a municipality acknowledge this
crime against humanity and resolve to allocate some form of reparation
for the African Descendant Community in New York City."
The first Resolution calls for the City to fund a commission to study
reparations to descendants of enslaved Africans held here on the City's
soil. Another proposes a "Reparations Awareness Day," while a third
declares support for the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit that
seeks restitution from three corporations that profited mightily from
the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. The fourth calls for the United States
Government to hold fact/based hearings on the issue of reparations.
Superb Testimony Presented
Perkins and Barron brought together an extraordinary roster of speakers
who approached the subject from an array of viewpoints. The Federal,
State and local levels of government were all represented as US
Congressman John Conyers, Jr., State Assemblyman Roger Green, and
former New York City Councilman Wendell Foster gave testimony. Deadria
Farmer-Paellman and Atty. Roger Wareham, both pivotal in the class
action lawsuit for retribution from Aetna Inc., FleetBoston Bank
Financial Corporation, and the CSX Corporation, examined the issue from
a legal perspective. A phenomenal amount of historical background was
provided by Howard Dodson, Chief of the Schomburg Center for Research
in Black Culture, Dr. Leonard Jeffries, professor at the City College
of New York, Prof. James Small, Vice President of the Organization of
Afro-American Unity, and historian Rosemary Meely.
Community leaders Dr. Delois Blakely, who carries on the legacy of
Queen Mother Moore, and Rev. Herbert Daughtry also gave important
testimony. Ajamu Sankofa of N'COBRA, Atty. Mutu Matsimela from the
Reparations Mobilization Coalition, and Linda Roots, for the
Metropolitan Council of the NAACP, provided invaluable insight as well.
Marion Davis and Reggie A. Maybry spoke simply and to the point in
behalf of themselves and their enslaved ancestors.
Opposition Useful
Also quite useful to the discussion was Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr.,
who voiced several arguments against reparations, giving them a chance
to be rebutted. For example, he said he didn't believe reparations were
in order because any debt owed was paid with the blood of the people
who fought in the Civil War, and that dragging out this debate from the
past would only be divisive.
Atty. Wareham addressed "this myth" that reparations would push the
communities apart, stating, "They already are apart, and one of the
reasons is, there has never been redress for the crime against humanity
that was committed. When you look at the statistics that define the
quality of life--infant mortality, healthcare, life expectancy, wealth,
unemployment, incarceration--and you compare the statistics of the
Black and Latino community with that of the white community, you would
swear you were talking about 2 different nations, not people who
supposedly have the same citizenship, opportunities, and rights. This
discrepancy exists because of an historical imbalance that was never
redressed. You can't move forward if you don't look back."
Dr. Jeffries pointed out as well that during the Civil War, half a
million white folk deserted the Union Army because they didn't want to
fight. In fact, there were so many that desertion was made a crime
punishable by death to try to stop them! He spoke about New York City's
infamous Draft Riots of 1863, when immigrants, particularly the Irish,
rioted in lower Manhattan, vandalizing and terrorizing the African
community. "They burned down a Black orphanage and maimed and murdered
hundreds of our people," said Jeffries. "This is all documented and we
have a sacred honor to lay it out."
Councilman Barron also reminded Vallone that his own father, former
City Council Speaker Peter Vallone Sr., submitted a Resolution calling
upon the US government to formally acknowledge the mistreatment of
Italian Americans during the Second World War and to give these people
and members of other ethnic groups similarly mistreated, reparations
comparable to those given to Japanese Americans. "If it's good for
Italians, it's good for Africans," stated Barron.
Little-Known Historical Facts Presented
An absolute wealth of little-known historical information was presented
at this hearing. For instance, Assemblyman Roger Green--who has
introduced his own Bills on reparations up in Albany--clarified the
fact that New York was the heaviest slaveholding region north of the
Mason-Dixon Line. Furthermore, New York City was a focal point in the
trade of enslaved Africans on the Eastern Seaboard.
Howard Dodson concurred. He stated that although New York enjoys a
reputation as one of the liberal refuges from slavery during the
decades leading up to the Civil War, it was a slavery colony and state
for 200 years--longer than the 177 years it's been a free state.
He also made it crystal clear that every white person benefited from
slavery in New York, not just slaveholders. Slavery was a publicly
organized and operated institution created by the laws of the colony of
New Amsterdam. The first slaves brought to New York in 1625 weren't
brought as private "slaves" to work for individuals, but as
public "slaves" to work for the City. They built forts, constructed
houses--in general were the labor force that created the foundations of
New York City as we know it today.
Dodson also explained that from the founding of the Republic through
the years leading up to the Civil War, New York City, as the financial
and commercial capital of the United States, controlled the sale of the
slavery-produced goods that were sold abroad. Cotton grown by enslaved
Africans was shipped up here from the South, and from here sold to
Europe. Even though the slave trade was abolished in 1807, New York
continued to operate as a hub of the illegal trade to Cuba and Brazil
well into the 1860s.
And he revealed a truly shocking fact: "Due to its economic dependence
on slavery and the slave trade, when South Carolina seceded from the
Union in 1861, Mayor Fernando Wood proposed that New York City also
secede and join the confederacy. Fortunately, the City Council of 1861
voted down this proposition."
It Is Current!
One of the things brought out abundantly in this hearing is that the
colossal injustice to Blacks didn't end when slavery did in 1865; the
horrors have continued down to this very day.
Rev. Daughtry, spoke about the fact that the most vicious time of
terrorism for Blacks was between 1865 and 1898. "You talk about
terrorism today," he said. "During that period tens of thousands of our
people were killed, lynched--and the legacy carries on."
Prof. James Small backed this up, stating, "You've got to count the
fact that the Ku Klux Klan has killed more African American citizens
than bin Laden, yet it's not declared a terrorist organization. Slavery
is alive and well; it's simply changed its form and mannerism." He
explained that after 1865 slavery became a de facto institution in
terms of the Black Codes, sharecropping, Jim Crow, red lining, and
segregation in New York City, which--as the 2000 Census exposed--is,
even now, one of the most segregated cities in the entire nation. "That
is a result of slavery in the State and City of New York," said Small.
Atty. Mutu Matsimela also provided an overview showing the rightness of
the demand for reparations not only for what occurred under slavery,
but for the systemic, institutionalized racism--all the denial of basic
human rights current today.
He also made it clear that, contrary to what the US government and
mainstream press would have us believe, the struggle for reparations is
an international movement with lawsuits being prepared in the
Caribbean, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, and throughout Central
America. "This effort going on here in New York City is, in fact, a
part of a global movement around reparations," he concluded.
When Chairman Perkins brought this groundbreaking hearing to a close,
he said that he anticipates at least one additional hearing before a
committee vote that would then send the Resolutions to the full Council
for consideration. For further information contact Perkins' office at
(212) 788-7396 or [log in to unmask]
Copyright © 2002 The Black World Today.
All Rights Reserved.
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