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New York City will soon be the largest city in the U.S. to enact a reparations program.
Councilmembers Crystal Hudson and Farah Louis sponsored a pair of bills to establish a Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Commission and a reparations task force. Both bills passed on Thursday and will be effective immediately.
“Today, the New York City Council voted to pass legislation establishing municipal efforts to acknowledge and address the legacy and impact of slavery and racial injustices in New York City,” the New York City council announced in a press release. “The package of legislation would establish a Truth, Healing and Reconciliation process on slavery within New York City (which had one of the highest rates of slave ownership in the country in the 1700s), a reparations study, informational signs at the City’s first slave market, and a taskforce to consider the creation of a ‘freedom trail’ commemorating abolitionist movement and Underground Railroad sites.”
The press release detailed how the commission would “establish facts about slavery in New York City and its ongoing legacies, protect and acknowledge affected persons and communities, and recommend changes for government and institutions to prevent the perpetuation and recurrence of injustices from the legacy of slavery.”
Councilwoman Crystal Hudson attends as Brooklyn Paramount celebrates its grand opening with an official ribbon cutting at Brooklyn Paramount in New York City on March 27. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Brooklyn Paramount)
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The two councilmembers who sponsored the legislation praised its passage and think it will bring about change in the city.
Hudson said she hopes the legislation will “identify racist, anti-Black policies at the foundation of our city’s institutions and it will yield material solutions to address these foundational cracks.”
Louis said the legislation is a “crucial step towards justice and equity.”
The two councilmembers who sponsored the legislation praised its passage and think it will bring about change in the city.
When contacted by Fox News Digital, Hudson touted the virtues of the legislation and argued the impact of slavery is still felt today.
“The passage of these bills represents a significant step for New York City. The harm slavery caused Black Americans continues to be felt today. Our nation’s inability to properly redress such a historic wrong allows this deep injustice to continue to manifest itself in distinct, tangible ways — be it the prison-industrial complex, predatory lending, redlining, or inequality in our school systems,”Hudson said.
“When I first ran for office in 2021, I released A Black Agenda for New York City, outlining six bold recommendations that would meet the urgency of the racial reckoning facing our city. One of those recommendations was the creation of a citywide Truth, Healing, and Reconciliation process centered on acknowledging the city’s racist practices and historic treatment of Black New Yorkers,” she added. “And it is my hope that as the nation’s largest city — with the biggest municipal budget — our truth, healing, and reconciliation process will work; it will identify racist, anti-Black policies at the foundation of our city’s institutions and it will yield material solutions to address these foundational cracks.”
VideoHowever, not all New York City councilmembers are happy about the bills.
“I’ll move before I’ll pay,” Minority Leader Joseph Borelli told the New York Post. Borelli was one of the eight councilmembers to vote against the legislation.
“If they can introduce me to one New Yorker who owned a slave I’d be happy to consider it,” he added. “But until then, I am not paying a dime as a reparation for a harm I did not cause, nor condone, nor once participated in.”
Alexander Hall is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Alexander.hall@fox.com.
