The work to convince Boston residents or the public at large to support the idea of economic reparations for the descendants of enslaved people will not be easy, the leader of the city’s NAACP chapter acknowledged, but she said it’s work that nevertheless must be done.
“We have to address both racial and economic injustice. The enslavement of people — the enslavement of Black people — really is, at its root, an economic conversation,” the President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Boston Chapter, Tanisha Sullivan, said.
Sullivan was speaking to WBZ’s Jon Keller during his weekly political segment. According to Sullivan, the Boston City Council’s unanimous December decision to establish a task force aimed at exploring reparations for Black Bostonians is a necessary step in a process that must ultimately address the negative impact, economically, that is felt by descendants of enslaved people.
Information provided by the Brookings Institute shows the average Black American family has just one-tenth the wealth of a white family, and a Black college graduate one-seventh the wealth of a white college graduate.
Sullivan says the NAACP worked hand-in-hand with members of the city council to get the ordinance calling for a reparations study approved, and that now she looks forward to learning exactly what effect slavery had on Black Bostonians.
“I am really looking forward to, quite frankly, Jon, to our collective discovery, in many respects, of the role that we here as Bostonians and in Boston really played in the institution of slavery,” she said.
Keller was quick to point out that such task forces — not just in Boston but nationally — have been established before, held their studies, issued findings but resulted in no actual policy changes.
“The word reparations, poll after poll shows, has political toxicity attached to it,” Keller said. “Some people view it as, you know, ‘why do I have to pay for injustices that I’ve never participated in or perpetrated?’ How do you get past that?” he asked.
Sullivan said that, too, is part of the process.
“Yes, it is going to be hard. I want to…I can’t underscore that enough, that this is going to be a challenge” she said. “I also think it’s important to note that we’ve got many examples of reparations — repair — which is really about justice.”
Sullivan said the study is just the first step in a multiple phase effort and that it will help city officials “uncover and discover the history related to Black folks and the enslavement of Black folks here in Boston.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has approved the task force’s formation, according to her office.
“For four hundred years, Black Americans have been denied pathways to build generational wealth, secure stable housing, and live freely through the brutal practice of enslavement, and policies like redlining, the busing crisis, and exclusion from City contracting,” Wu said through a spokesperson. “Our administration remains committed to tackling long standing racial inequities— through increasing access to homeownership, boosting equitable contracting opportunities, improving health outcomes, and investing in public education.”
Sullivan’s stop with Keller comes ahead of the NAACP’s National Convention, which was originally scheduled to be held in Boston in 2020 but canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. This year’s convention will begin July 26 and will be held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
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i do not owe them a dam thing.
they have been paid with taxpayer dollars for years welfare food stamps and a plethera of government programs.
My entire life I have watched Blacks get taxpayer support just because they are Black.
Blacks get a 10% advantage on government contracts.
Blacks get a 10% point advantage on college entry exams.
The majority of Blacks are given taxpayer paid support of one kind or another.
A large percentage of Blacks are supported by the taxpayer from cradle to grave, never having a job.
Why is it that some Blacks are doctors. lawyers and successful business owners, while others are uneducated, drug dealers?
I.A.W. U.S. Census & FBI (Table 43a)
Black males make up about 7% of the U.S. population but every year commit ~56% of all the murders and ~64% of all robberies in the U.S… Every year in the U.S. there are ~6,000 African-Americans men, women and children killed and 92% of them were killed by fellow African-Americans.
Are White people responsible for these murders too?
The Chinese were sold as slaves to build the railroad, are the Democrats going to give them economic reparations too?
AND How long, must we ‘PAY for slavery”, BEFORE WE ARE DONE paying?!?!?!
” Reparations Study Just One Step on Path to Righting Injustice, NAACP Pres. Says.”
Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald | Jan 16, 2023 | News .
In the book, Titled, ” MAN and The WELFARE STATE,” by Henry Hazliti, John Stuart Mills, writing in his (Representative Government, ” in 1861, it regards it as required by first principles that the receipt of Parish Relief,( WELFARE,)….”should be a preemptory disqualification for the franchise. He who cannot by his labor suffice for his own support has no claim to the privilege of helping himself to the money of others. By becoming dependent on the remaining members of the community for actual subsistence, he abdicates his claim to equal rights with them in other respects.”
The intended recipients of reparations are not the victims of the perceived injustices.
Next step, reparations for the descendants of Native Americans whose land was stolen. Reparations for the descendants of the Japanese interred during WWII. Reparations for the descendants of the Irish who were sold into indentured servitude. And don’t forget the “minimum income” every person is “entitled” to and some cities are actually stupid enough to try to implement. And who is paying for this lunacy? No worries, the Fed will just print some more money.
“Some people view it as, you know, ‘why do I have to pay for injustices that I’ve never participated in or perpetrated?’ How do you get past that?” he asked.” Answer: You don’t. I firmly believe that every person who has ever owned slaves in this country should pay reparations to every person who has ever been a slave in this country. As for the rest of you, get a job.
IRISH are white, so they wil NEVER EVER, get reparations.
Everybody should read David Horowitz’s. ” 10 Reasons Reparations are a bad Idea and Racist too.”
CORRECTION : ” 1o Reasons Reparations are a bad Idea and Racist too.”
Not a single former American slave exists today. This is just more extreme pandering by white race-baiters to keep themselves awash in corrupt votes. They tried BLM till it was unmasked as a scam, this is just BLM 2.0…..
The real victims of any injustice are the law abiding citizens that are set upon by this race of people. They owe restitution for all the crimes and welfare costs. What about reparations for the descendants of the hundreds of thousands who gave their lives so these ingrates could have their freedom?
Every time reparations are mentioned, EVERYONE OF The descendents of those who FOUGHT AND DIED to end slavery, should be paid.
As far as I’m concerned, if these professional black racist hypocrites want reparations then they can get their black a**es on the first plane back to Africa and collect from the descendants of the people who sold their ancestors into slavery in the first place.
We must by international law return to africa it’s stolen property(people).