Black New Yorkers attending a state commission studying remedies for racism said they were due cash reparations for slavery and other past injustices.
The New York “State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies” hearing follows Gov. Kathy Hochul signing a bill in 2023 for a commission to study slavery in New York state and examine various forms of compensation.
“We need $800,000 for each foundational black American. That’s simple,” Aubrey Muhammud, one of the attendees, told Fox News Digital. “That’s — in New York — that’s about the cost of living that’ll get you a home or a small business or for you to recover from any financial duress.”
New York joins several other Democratic run states and local municipalities looking to issue reparations in some form.
The Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois went as far as paying $25,000 in cash to Black residents to address past racial housing discrimination, according to Fox’s coverage of the controversial issue Saturday.
San Francisco enacted legislation earlier this year establishing official reparations of $5 million to each eligible Black residents. However, facing a $1 billion city budget deficit, the measure contains no taxpayer-allocated funds or guaranteed cash payouts.
New York’s public hearing allowed for residents to relate their experiences to the commission, reportedly in an effort to examine past discriminatory policies and slavery in the United States.
“Certainly grateful that you all came up here today to enjoy and participate and lend your voice to this public hearing. Our theme today is truth before repair,” commissioner Seanelle Hawkins told the audience.
Who exactly would get payments is a matter of concern to some attendees.
According to Fox:
Some of the speakers represented “The United States Freedmen Project,” a group of self-identified “foundational Black Americans” aiming to inform Americans about the distinctions between African Americans who are descendants of slaves and those who migrated to the country willingly.
According to its website, the organization “is a non-partisan organization that seeks to fulfill the abandoned missions of the Freedmen’s Bureau and the Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company.”
Attendees told Fox News Digital what they think reparations should look like.
“I think it should be, me personally, I think there should be a new Freedmen’s Bureau back and that is like a central bank almost to Black America and would be distributed to Black communities,” Rex Burns said.
Freedmen supporters argued that the reparations bill includes language that violates the Constitution and that state officials need to base eligibility on lineage.
“It shouldn’t only be a check, but it should start with a check,” Brooke Lean said and that cash payments need to come first before other forms of reparations.
“Then we can start addressing education issues, redlining issues, policing issues, all of these other issues that are badges and incidents of slavery,” she told the outlet.
Some other locals who attended the public hearing identified themselves as “foundational Black Americans,” explaining to Fox News Digital why cash payments are necessary.
“I think that we are owed a debt,” Caprice Reins said.
Tanasia Poke said that financial compensation is the only way to achieve “true justice.”
“It’s been the greatest impact to our community overall, generationally. And so, by policy and finance, it’s how it’s been institutionalized in the first place. It is the way to repair it,” Poke said.
Lowell Cauffiel is the recipient of Columbia University’s prestigious Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award for his series that reduced racial conflict in Detroit in the 1980s. He’s the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.