On Thursday, New York City lawmakers passed a bill to investigate the city’s significant role in slavery and consider compensation for the descendants of enslaved people.
If the package of laws passed by the City Council goes into effect, it would follow in the footsteps of several other municipalities across the United States that have sought ways to address the country’s dark history, as well as a separate commission of the State of New York which began its work this year.
New York abolished slavery completely in 1827But companies, including the predecessors of some modern banks, benefit financially from the slave trade – probably by 1866. Lawmakers behind the proposals pointed out that the harm caused by the institution is still felt by black Americans today.
“The reparations movement is often misunderstood as simply demanding compensation,” Council Member Farah Louis, a Democrat who sponsored one of the bills, told the City Council on Thursday, explaining that systematic forms of oppression still affect people through redlining, environmental racism and underfunded services in predominantly black neighborhoods.
The bills still need to be signed by Democratic Mayor Eric Adams. City Hall signaled its support in a statement calling the legislation “another critical step toward addressing systemic injustices, promoting reconciliation, and creating a more just and equitable future for all New Yorkers.”
The bills would direct the city’s Commission on Racial Equity to recommend remedies for the legacy of slavery, including reparations. They would also launch a truth and reconciliation process to uncover historical facts about slavery in the state.
One of the proposals would also require the city to erect an information sign on Wall Street in Manhattan to mark the location of New York’s first slave marketwhich operated between 1711 and 1762. A sign was placed nearby in 2015, but Democrat and Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams, who sponsored the bill, said the location was inaccurate.
The Commission would work with the existing state commissionwhich also considers the possibility of compensation. A report from the state panel, which held its first public meeting in late July, is expected in early 2025. The city’s efforts should not produce recommendations until 2027.
The city commission was founded from a racial justice initiative in 2021 during the administration of then-Mayor Bill de Blasio. It also recommended that the city track cost-of-living data and add a commitment to remedy “past and ongoing harms” to the preamble of the city charter.
“Your call and the call of your ancestors for redress have not gone unheard,” Linda Tigani, executive director of the Commission for Racial Equality, said at a news conference before the council’s vote.
An analysis of the financial impact of the bills concluded that the studies would cost $2.5 million.
New York is the latest city to address reparations. Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a notorious massacre of black residents took place in 1921, announced a similar commission last month.
Evanston, Illinois, was the first city to offer compensation for Black residents and their descendants in 2021including the distribution of some $25,000 payments in 2023, according to PBSEligibility was based on harm suffered as a result of the city’s discriminatory housing policies or practices.
San Francisco approved reparations payments in February, but the mayor later cut the funds, arguing that reparations should instead be carried out by the federal government. California has allocated $12 million for a Reparations program This included helping black residents research their ancestry, but the bill failed in the state parliament this month.