SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Tuesday, in the state capitol, a coalition of Black representatives and organizations combined forces in support of a proposed plan that would bring reparations to the descendants of chattel slavery.
Rep. Sonya Harper (D-Chicago) this is just a small step to repay Black Americans.
If companies would like a state contract in Illinois, they would have to declare if their corporation benefited from chattel slavery. If they did, the company would then have to pay reparations under the new bill.
Rep. Sonya Harper (D-Chicago) has been fighting for reparation bills since she was elected, saying it’s about time the benefactors of slavery start paying what’s due to Black Americans.
“We’ve waited long enough, we’ve waited our turn in line long enough,” Harper said. “I’m here like to say like the rest of us enough is enough. Enough excuses, enough delays, enough broken promises.”
Evanston Ill. was the first city in the U.S. to begin a reparations program for its Black citizens, receiving $25,000 per person. The money earned went straight to the people, where they spent their money on essential services such as mortgage payments or buying a car.
Co-sponsor of the bill Rep. Carrol Ammons (D-Urbana) said America in the past has paid reparations to communities such as Japanese Americans and Native American tribes, but the descendants of slavery have not been paid.
“The purpose of reparations is to restore what had been damaged,” Ammons said. “We, the descendants of the enslaved, deserve to have our harms repaired.”
Chattel slavery ended in 1865, but many Black Americans continued to be oppressed from segregation and mass incarceration after the Civil Rights Act in 1965.
Harper said that even to this day, you can see the generational impacts of chattel slavery has had on the Black community.
“This historic wrong has affected generations to come,” Harper said. “The descendants of enslaved people have faced and still face systemic racism, discrimination in real estate, education, political power, employment and more.”
When asked if there are companies under state contracts who’ve benefited from chattel slavery, they mentioned New York City attorney Deadria Farmer-Paellman, who in 2002 charged three American companies for crimes against humanity and consumer fraud according to BBC Radio 4.
The charges on crimes against humanity would be dismissed, but were allowed to appeal on consumer fraud charges. However they had run out of funds and the litigation ended.
With Black History Month starting in February and Martin Luther King Day passed last week, Rev. Dr. Robert Turner of the National African American Reparations Commission said this is time to make history.
“It’s not enough for you just to celebrate Dr. King day,” Turner said. “It’s not enough for you to have an MLK march, it’s not enough next month to do something for Black history month. Black history is now and we are making history today.”
With lawmakers back in Springfield, they could talk about this bill in session.
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