Fox News reports that New York City becomes the largest city in the United States to officially support legislation enacting a reparations program, following yesterday’s approval by the New York City Council (“Council”) of two bills establishing a “Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Commission” and a reparations task force.
Not all New York City councilmembers are happy about the bills, as evidenced by Minority Leader Joseph Borelli’s statements that “I’ll move before I’ll pay” and “[i]f they can introduce me to one New Yorker who owned a slave I’d be happy to consider it, 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.”
The Fox News report may be read in full HERE.
For its part, the Council issued a press release (“PR”) yesterday (9/12/2024), titled “New York City Council Votes to Acknowledge, Study, and Address Legacy and Impact of Slavery and Racial Injustices in New York City,” which may be read in full HERE.
The PR states, in part, that:
“The 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 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 [emphasis mine], 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.”
“Introduction 279-A, sponsored by Council Member Farah Louis, would require [the Commission on Racial Equity (“CORE”)] to work with subject-matter experts to study the historical and present-day role of New York City government in perpetrating or perpetuating slavery and related racial injustices, and to consider reparative measures for such injustices. The reparations study would document the harms of slavery and its legacies in the City, identify associated rights violations, and recommend potential legal, policy, and other measures to help remedy or redress associated harms. The study would also propose eligibility criteria for receiving reparations [emphasis mine].”
And, according to Council Member Crystal Hudson, “[t]he 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.”
COMMENTARY
My brothers and sisters, remembering the history of, and the genuine repentance for, human slavery being part of the history of the United States is godly and righteous; however, the issue (or the elephant in the room) is that actual slavery has been illegal for a VERY long time. There was a necessary period of time for the complete end of slavery to be fully embraced by most citizens, but the country ‘repented’ of slavery during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln.
According to the National Archives (of the United States), the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed at the end of the Civil War before the Southern states had been restored to the Union. The amendment was passed by the U.S. Senate in April 1864 and it was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives (after being added to the Republican Party Platform) in January 1865, by a vote of 119–56. On February 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures and the amendment was officially ratified on December 6, 1865.
The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that: “[n]either slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
More information about the 13th Amendment may be found on the website of the National Archives HERE.
Unfortunately, and by way of example, the ‘separate but equal’ laws and bigotry on display during the 1960s represented a continuing blot on the decency of the United States; however, those attitudes were not representative of a desire for the return of slavery, but of discrimination and elitism manifested by those who seemingly forgot that we are all loved equally by God, regardless of race or color, and that even the U.S. Declaration of Independence states that “[w]e hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal [emphasis mine], that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
As inferred by Council’s Minority Leader Joseph Borelli’s statement in the above Fox News article, “I am not paying a dime as a reparation for a harm I did not cause, nor condone, nor once participated in,” we should remember that there are no persons in the United States today who were Black Slaves or their owners.
It is the view of this writer that acknowledging the sad history of Black Slave ownership in the United States is honorable and helpful – as a matter of history and proper education for starters – but, it also seems that the attempt to establish criteria for who would receive reparation funds and at what level, and determining the required justification for taking monies from current citizens who have never had anything to do with such slavery, will undoubtedly result in non-stop litigation, further tearing away at the fabric of society and reopening or widening the wounds resulting from the history of slavery in the United States.
Simply put, it seems that using injustice to address injustice is an incredibly misguided and sure-to-fail-in-the-long-run approach to abating past wrongs!
Let’s pray that we, as Americans, will have a heart of repentance and forgiveness for this country’s inexcusably poor decision and moral failure to import and work former Black Slaves, and for the years of lingering discrimination – both outward and inwardly held (in secret). Let’s also pray for the wisdom of governmental officials, such as those who serve on the Council, to seek the wisdom of God and not the wisdom of the world – which is so often driven by emotion and passion instead of prayer, compassion and Holy Spirit discerned truth.
The bible tells us that we are to forgive those who sin (trespass) against us, or the Father will not forgive our own sin, and that we must be very careful not to hypocritically judge others while we ourselves are sinful and unrepentant:
Matthew 6:14-15 (NKJV)
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Matthew 7:2-4 (Amplified Bible)
“For just as you [hypocritically] judge others [when you are sinful and unrepentant], so will you be judged; and in accordance with your standard of measure [used to pass out judgment], judgment will be measured to you. Why do you look at the [insignificant] speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice and acknowledge the [egregious] log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘[l]et me get the speck out of your eye,’ when there is a log in your own eye?”
The bible also tells us that we are to seek the wisdom of God, not the wisdom of this world, which is without partiality and hypocrisy, and is sown in peace by those who make peace:
James 3:13-18 (NKJV)
Heavenly Versus Demonic Wisdom
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
1 Corinthians 3:19 (NLT)
“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, ‘He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.’”
My brothers and sisters, the bible reminds us that true freedom is found only in Christ Jesus (not through retribution):
John 8:34-36 (NKJV)
Freedom in Christ
“Jesus answered [the believing Jews], ‘[m]ost assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore[,] if the Son [Jesus] makes you free, you shall be free indeed.’”