Redress for historical injustices in the United States : on reparations for slavery, Jim Crow, and their legacies

An exceptional resource, this comprehensive reader brings together primary and secondary documents related to efforts to redress historical wrongs against African Americans. These varied efforts are often grouped together under the rubric “reparations movement,” and they are united in their goal of “repairing” the injustices that have followed from the long history of slavery and Jim Crow. Yet, as this collection reveals, there is a broad range of opinions as to the form that repair might take. Some advocates of redress call for apologies; others for official acknowledgment of wrongdoing; and still others for more tangible reparations: monetary compensation, government investment in disenfranchised communities, the restitution of lost property and rights, and repatriation. Written by activists and scholars of law, political science, African American studies, philosophy, economics, and history, the twenty-six essays include both previously published articles and pieces written specifically for this volume. Essays theorize the historical and legal bases of claims for redress; examine the history, strengths, and limitations of the reparations movement; and explore its relation to human rights and social justice movements in the United States and abroad. Other essays evaluate the movement’s primary strategies: legislation, litigation, and mobilization. While all of the contributors support the campaign for redress in one way or another, some of them engage with arguments against reparations. Among the fifty-three primary documents included in the volume are federal, state, and municipal acts and resolutions; declarations and statements from organizations including the Black Panther Party and the NAACP; legal briefs and opinions; and findings and directives related to the provision of redress, from the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 to the mandate for the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Redress for Historical Injustices in the United States is a thorough assessment of the past, present, and future of the modern reparations movement. Contributors . Richard F. America, Sam Anderson, Martha Biondi, Boris L. Bittker, James Bolner, Roy L. Brooks, Michael K. Brown, Robert S. Browne, Martin Carnoy, Chiquita Collins, J. Angelo Corlett, Elliott Currie, William A. Darity, Jr., Adrienne Davis, Michael C. Dawson, Troy Duster, Dania Frank, Robert Fullinwider, Charles P. Henry, Gerald C. Horne, Robert Johnson, Jr., Robin D. G. Kelley, Jeffrey R. Kerr-Ritchie, Theodore Kornweibel, Jr., David Lyons, Michael T. Martin, Douglas S. Massey , Muntu Matsimela , C. J. Munford, Yusuf Nuruddin, Charles J. Ogletree Jr., Melvin L. Oliver, David B. Oppenheimer, Rovana Popoff, Thomas M. Shapiro, Marjorie M. Shultz, Alan Singer, David Wellman, David R. Williams, Eric K. Yamamoto, Marilyn Yaquinto An exceptional resource, this comprehensive reader brings together primary and secondary documents related to efforts to redress historical wrongs against African Americans. These varied efforts are often grouped together under the rubric “reparations movement,” and they are united in their goal of “repairing” the injustices that have followed from the long history of slavery and Jim Crow. Yet, as this collection reveals, there is a broad range of opinions as to the form that repair might take. Some advocates of redress call for apologies; others for official acknowledgment of wrongdoing; and still others for more tangible reparations: monetary compensation, government investment in disenfranchised communities, the restitution of lost property and rights, and repatriation. Written by activists and scholars of law, political science, African American studies, philosophy, economics, and history, the twenty-six essays include both previously published articles and pieces written specifically for this volume. Essays theorize the historical and legal bases of claims for redress; examine the history, strengths, and limitations of the reparations movement; and explore its relation to human rights and social justice movements in the United States and abroad. Other essays evaluate the movement’s primary strategies: legislation, litigation, and mobilization. While all of the contributors support the campaign for redress in one way or another, some of them engage with arguments against reparations. Among the fifty-three primary documents included in the volume are federal, state, and municipal acts and resolutions; declarations and statements from organizations including the Black Panther Party and the NAACP; legal briefs and opinions; and findings and directives related to the provision of redress, from the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 to the mandate for the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Redress for Historical Injustices in the United States is a thorough assessment of the past, present, and future of the modern reparations movement. Contributors . Richard F. America, Sam Anderson, Martha Biondi, Boris L. Bittker, James Bolner, Roy L. Brooks, Michael K. Brown, Robert S. Browne, Martin Carnoy, Chiquita Collins, J. Angelo Corlett, Elliott Currie, William A. Darity, Jr., Adrienne Davis, Michael C. Dawson, Troy Duster, Dania Frank, Robert Fullinwider, Charles P. Henry, Gerald C. Horne, Robert Johnson, Jr., Robin D. G. Kelley, Jeffrey R. Kerr-Ritchie, Theodore Kornweibel, Jr., David Lyons, Michael T. Martin, Douglas S. Massey , Muntu Matsimela , C. J. Munford, Yusuf Nuruddin, Charles J. Ogletree Jr., Melvin L. Oliver, David B. Oppenheimer, Rovana Popoff, Thomas M. Shapiro, Marjorie M. Shultz, Alan Singer, David Wellman, David R. Williams, Eric K. Yamamoto, Marilyn Yaquinto Review A truly impressive achievement in its range of approaches, depth of analysis, and variety of sources, this book should immediately become the definitive text on the subject of reparations for black Americans. Charles W. Mills, John Evans Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy, Northwestern University It will be far harder to dismiss the deeply resonant and persistent demand for reparations in the wake of this remarkable collection of interdisciplinary research and historical documentation. This monumental work is ideal for teaching how history and policy intersect.David Roediger, Kendrick C. Babcock Professor of History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign About the Author Michael T. Martin is Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies and Director of the Black Film Center/Archive at Indiana University. He is the editor of New Latin American Cinema and Cinemas of the Black Diaspora and a coeditor of Studies of Development and Change in the Modern World . Marilyn Yaquinto is Assistant Professor of Communication at Truman State University. She is the author of Pump ‘Em Full of Lead: A Look at Gangsters on Film and a former journalist with the Los Angeles Times . Front Cover 2 Preface 7 Acknowledgments 12 On Redress for Racial Injustice 13 Part 1: Racial Inequality and White Privilege 43 Introduction 44 Racial Injustices in U.S. History and Their Legacy 45 Race Preferences and Race Privileges 71 A Sociology of Wealth and Racial Inequality 111 Part 2: Law, Citizenship, and the State 140 Introduction 141 The Case for Reparations 143 Toward a Theory of Racial Reparations 157 The Constitutionality of Black Reparations 166 The Theory of Restitution: The African American Case 186 Reparations to African Americans? 197 Part 3: Reparations: Formation and Modes of Redress 228 Introduction 229 ‘‘A Day of Reckoning’’: Dreams of Reparations 231 Forty Acres, or, An Act of Bad Faith 251 The Economic Basis for Reparations to Black America 268 The Political Economy of Ending Racism and the World Conference against Racism: The Economics of Reparations 280 The Rise of the Reparations Movement 288 Part 4: Case Studies of Injustice and Intervention 303 Introduction 304 Nineteenth-Century New York City’s Complicity with Slavery: Documenting the Case for Reparations 305 Railroads, Race, and Reparations 326 Reparations: A Viable Strategy to Address the Enigma of African American Health 338 Residential Segregation and Persistent Urban Poverty 370 Part 5: Mobilizing Strategies 389 Introduction 390 The Politics of Racial Reparations 392 The Case for U.S. Reparations to African Americans 412 The Promises and Pitfalls of Reparations 420 Repatriation as Reparations for Slavery and Jim Crow 446 What’s Next?: Japanese American Redress and African American Reparations 456 The Reparations Movement: An Assessment of Recent and Current Activism 473 Reparations: Strategic Considerations for Black Americans 494 Tulsa Reparations: The Survivors’ Story 499 Race for Power: The Global Balance of Power and Reparations 519 Documents 531 Introduction 532 Section 1: Federal Acts and Resolutions 533 The Second Confiscation Act (1862) 534 Special Field Orders, No. 15 (1865) 538 Freedmen’s Bureau Act (1865) 541 Southern Homestead Act (1866) 543 House Resolution 29 (1867) 546 Civil Liberties Act (1988) 549 House Resolution 356 (2000) 551 House Resolution 40 (2005) 554 Senate Resolution 39 (2005) 561 Senate Resolution 44 (2005) 563 Section 2: State Legislation 566 Michigan House Bill No. 5562 (2000) 567 California Senate Bill No. 2199 (2000) 568 California Senate Joint Resolution No. 1 (2001) 570 New Jersey African-American Reconciliation Study Commission Act (2003) 572 Texas House Joint Resolution 25 (2003) 578 Maryland House Joint Resolution 4 (2004) 581 Section 3: Municipal Resolutions 584 City of Detroit (1989) 585 City of Chicago (2000) 587 City of San Francisco (2001) 590 City of New York Resolution 41 (2002) 592 City of New York Resolution 219 (2002) 595 District of Columbia (2003) 597 City of New York Resolution 57 (2004) 600 City of New York Resolution 195 (2004) 602 City of Philadelphia (2004) 604 Section 4: Advocacy and Activism 607 United Negro Improvement Association (1920): "Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World": The Principles of the Universal Negro Improvements Association 608 Civil Rights Congress (1951): ‘‘We Charge Genocide’’ 616 Malcolm X (1964): Appeal to African Heads of State 630 Black Panther Party for Self Defense (1967): What We Want; What We Believe 635 Republic of New Africa (1968): Declaration of Independence 638 Black Panther Party (1969): Reparations for Vietnam 642 National Black Economic Development Conference (1969): The Black Manifesto 643 National Black Political Agenda (1972): The Gary Declaration 650 Black Panther Party (1973): Petition to the United Nations 656 Nation of Islam (1990): A Case for Reparations 658 Black Radical Congress (1999): The Freedom Agenda 662 Reparations Support Committee (1999/2000): ‘‘To the President of the United States of America’’ 670 Randall Robinson, TransAfrica Forum (2000): Restatement of the Black Manifesto 671 National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (2000): The Reparations Campaign 675 The NDABA Movement (2004): National Reparations Petition 679 NAACP(2005): NAACP Supports Reintroduction of Reparations Study Legislation 681 American Bar Association Recommendation (2006) 684 Episcopal Church (2006): Call for the Episcopal Church to Study Responsibility for Reparations 685 Section 5: Case Studies of Redress 687 The White House (1997): Apology for Study Done in Tuskegee 688 Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 (2000) 692 Mandate for the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2004) 695 Rosewood Victims v. State of Florida (2004): Special Master’s Final Report 699 Florida Statute 1004.60 (2004) 708 Florida Statute 1009.55 (2004) 709 Section 6: Lawsuits 711 Timothy Pigford, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Dan Glickman, Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture, Defendant (1998): Opinion 712 Civil Actions Nos. 97-1978, 98-1693 (1999): Opinion 717 In re African-American Slave Descendants Litigation (2004): Opinion 720 Selected Bibliography 725 Contributors 734 Acknowledgment of Copyrights 738 Index 741 History,General,Ethnic Studies,Social Science,African American Studies,Africa,African Americans,African Diaspora,Law,Social History,Reparations for Historical Injustices,Reparations,African Americans - Reparations - History,Legal Status; Laws; Etc.,African Americans - Legal Status; Laws; Etc - History,African Americans - Reparations,Social Movements,Sources Front Cover......Page 2 Preface......Page 7 Acknowledgments......Page 12 On Redress for Racial Injustice......Page 13 Part 1: Racial Inequality and White Privilege......Page 43 Introduction......Page 44 Racial Injustices in U.S. History and Their Legacy......Page 45 Race Preferences and Race Privileges......Page 71 A Sociology of Wealth and Racial Inequality......Page 111 Part 2: Law, Citizenship, and the State......Page 140 Introduction......Page 141 The Case for Reparations......Page 143 Toward a Theory of Racial Reparations......Page 157 The Constitutionality of Black Reparations......Page 166 The Theory of Restitution: The African American Case......Page 186 Reparations to African Americans?......Page 197 Part 3: Reparations: Formation and Modes of Redress......Page 228 Introduction......Page 229 ‘‘A Day of Reckoning’’: Dreams of Reparations......Page 231 Forty Acres, or, An Act of Bad Faith......Page 251 The Economic Basis for Reparations to Black America......Page 268 The Political Economy of Ending Racism and the World Conference against Racism: The Economics of Reparations......Page 280 The Rise of the Reparations Movement......Page 288 Part 4: Case Studies of Injustice and Intervention......Page 303 Introduction......Page 304 Nineteenth-Century New York City’s Complicity with Slavery: Documenting the Case for Reparations......Page 305 Railroads, Race, and Reparations......Page 326 Reparations: A Viable Strategy to Address the Enigma of African American Health......Page 338 Residential Segregation and Persistent Urban Poverty......Page 370 Part 5: Mobilizing Strategies......Page 389 Introduction......Page 390 The Politics of Racial Reparations......Page 392 The Case for U.S. Reparations to African Americans......Page 412 The Promises and Pitfalls of Reparations......Page 420 Repatriation as Reparations for Slavery and Jim Crow......Page 446 What’s Next?: Japanese American Redress and African American Reparations......Page 456 The Reparations Movement: An Assessment of Recent and Current Activism......Page 473 Reparations: Strategic Considerations for Black Americans......Page 494 Tulsa Reparations: The Survivors’ Story......Page 499 Race for Power: The Global Balance of Power and Reparations......Page 519 Documents......Page 531 Introduction......Page 532 Section 1: Federal Acts and Resolutions......Page 533 The Second Confiscation Act (1862)......Page 534 Special Field Orders, No. 15 (1865)......Page 538 Freedmen’s Bureau Act (1865)......Page 541 Southern Homestead Act (1866)......Page 543 House Resolution 29 (1867)......Page 546 Civil Liberties Act (1988)......Page 549 House Resolution 356 (2000)......Page 551 House Resolution 40 (2005)......Page 554 Senate Resolution 39 (2005)......Page 561 Senate Resolution 44 (2005)......Page 563 Section 2: State Legislation......Page 566 Michigan House Bill No. 5562 (2000)......Page 567 California Senate Bill No. 2199 (2000)......Page 568 California Senate Joint Resolution No. 1 (2001)......Page 570 New Jersey African-American Reconciliation Study Commission Act (2003)......Page 572 Texas House Joint Resolution 25 (2003)......Page 578 Maryland House Joint Resolution 4 (2004)......Page 581 Section 3: Municipal Resolutions......Page 584 City of Detroit (1989)......Page 585 City of Chicago (2000)......Page 587 City of San Francisco (2001)......Page 590 City of New York Resolution 41 (2002)......Page 592 City of New York Resolution 219 (2002)......Page 595 District of Columbia (2003)......Page 597 City of New York Resolution 57 (2004)......Page 600 City of New York Resolution 195 (2004)......Page 602 City of Philadelphia (2004)......Page 604 Section 4: Advocacy and Activism......Page 607 United Negro Improvement Association (1920): "Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World": The Principles of the Universal Negro Improvements Association......Page 608 Civil Rights Congress (1951): ‘‘We Charge Genocide’’......Page 616 Malcolm X (1964): Appeal to African Heads of State......Page 630 Black Panther Party for Self Defense (1967): What We Want; What We Believe......Page 635 Republic of New Africa (1968): Declaration of Independence......Page 638 Black Panther Party (1969): Reparations for Vietnam......Page 642 National Black Economic Development Conference (1969): The Black Manifesto......Page 643 National Black Political Agenda (1972): The Gary Declaration......Page 650 Black Panther Party (1973): Petition to the United Nations......Page 656 Nation of Islam (1990): A Case for Reparations......Page 658 Black Radical Congress (1999): The Freedom Agenda......Page 662 Reparations Support Committee (1999/2000): ‘‘To the President of the United States of America’’......Page 670 Randall Robinson, TransAfrica Forum (2000): Restatement of the Black Manifesto......Page 671 National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (2000): The Reparations Campaign......Page 675 The NDABA Movement (2004): National Reparations Petition......Page 679 NAACP(2005): NAACP Supports Reintroduction of Reparations Study Legislation......Page 681 American Bar Association Recommendation (2006)......Page 684 Episcopal Church (2006): Call for the Episcopal Church to Study Responsibility for Reparations......Page 685 Section 5: Case Studies of Redress......Page 687 The White House (1997): Apology for Study Done in Tuskegee......Page 688 Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 (2000)......Page 692 Mandate for the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2004)......Page 695 Rosewood Victims v. State of Florida (2004): Special Master’s Final Report......Page 699 Florida Statute 1004.60 (2004)......Page 708 Florida Statute 1009.55 (2004)......Page 709 Section 6: Lawsuits......Page 711 Timothy Pigford, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Dan Glickman, Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture, Defendant (1998): Opinion......Page 712 Civil Actions Nos. 97-1978, 98-1693 (1999): Opinion......Page 717 In re African-American Slave Descendants Litigation (2004): Opinion......Page 720 Selected Bibliography......Page 725 Contributors......Page 734 Acknowledgment of Copyrights......Page 738 Index......Page 741 Annotation An exceptional resource, this comprehensive reader brings together primary and secondary documents related to efforts to redress historical wrongs against African Americans. These varied efforts are often grouped together under the rubric reparations movement, and they are united in their goal of repairing the injustices that have followed from the long history of slavery and Jim Crow. Yet, as this collection reveals, there is a broad range of opinions as to the form that repair might take. Some advocates of redress call for apologies; others for official acknowledgment of wrongdoing; and still others for more tangible reparations: monetary compensation, government investment in disenfranchised communities, the restitution of lost property and rights, and repatriation. Written by activists and scholars of law, political science, African American studies, philosophy, economics, and history, the twenty-six essays include both previously published articles and pieces written specifically for this volume. Essays theorize the historical and legal bases of claims for redress; examine the history, strengths, and limitations of the reparations movement; and explore its relation to human rights and social justice movements in the United States and abroad. Other essays evaluate the movements primary strategies: legislation, litigation, and mobilization. While all of the contributors support the campaign for redress in one way or another, some of them engage with arguments against reparations. Among the fifty-three primary documents included in the volume are federal, state, and municipal acts and resolutions; declarations and statements from organizations including the Black Panther Party and the NAACP; legal briefs and opinions; and findings and directives related to the provision of redress, from the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 to the mandate for the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Redress for Historical Injustices in the United States is a thorough assessment of the past, present, and future of the modern reparations movement. Contributors . Richard F. America, Sam Anderson, Martha Biondi, Boris L. Bittker, James Bolner, Roy L. Brooks, Michael K. Brown, Robert S. Browne, Martin Carnoy, Chiquita Collins, J. Angelo Corlett, Elliott Currie, William A. Darity, Jr., Adrienne Davis, Michael C. Dawson, Troy Duster, Dania Frank, Robert Fullinwider, Charles P. Henry, Gerald C. Horne, Robert Johnson, Jr., Robin D. G. Kelley, Jeffrey R. Kerr-Ritchie, Theodore Kornweibel, Jr., David Lyons, Michael T. Martin, Douglas S. Massey , Muntu Matsimela , C. J. Munford, Yusuf Nuruddin, Charles J. Ogletree Jr., Melvin L. Oliver, David B. Oppenheimer, Rovana Popoff, Thomas M. Shapiro, Marjorie M. Shultz, Alan Singer, David Wellman, David R. Williams, Eric K. Yamamoto, Marilyn Yaquinto On redress for racial injustice / Michael T. Martin and Marilyn Yaquinto Racial injustices in U.S. history and their legacy / David Lyons Race preferences and race privileges / Michael K. Brown, Martin Carnoy, Elliott Currie, Troy Duster, David B. Oppenheimer, Marjorie M. Shultz, and David Wellman A sociology of wealth and racial inequality / Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas M. Shapiro The case for reparations / Robert Fullinwider Toward a theory of racial reparations / James Bolner The constitutionality of Black reparations / Boris L. Bittker and Roy L. Brooks The theory of restitution : the African American case / Richard America Reparations to African Americans? / J. Angelo Corlett "A day of reckoning" : dreams of reparations / Robin D.G. Kelley Acres, or, An act of bad faith / Jeffrey R. Kerr-Ritchie The economic basis for reparations to Black America / Robert S. Browne The political economy of ending racism and the World Conference Against Racism : the economics of reparations / William Darity Jr. and Dania Frank The rise of the reparations movement / Martha Biondi Nineteenth-century New York City's complicity with slavery : documenting the case for reparations / Alan Singer Railroads, race, and reparations / Theodore Kornweibel Jr Reparations : a viable strategy to address the enigma of African American health / David R. Williams and Chiquita Collins Residential segregation and persistent urban poverty / Douglas S. Massey The politics of racial reparations / Charles P. Henry The case for U.S. reparations to African Americans / Adrienne D. Davis The promises and pitfalls of reparations / Yusuf Nuruddin Repatriation as reparations for slavery and Jim Crow / Robert Johnson Jr What's next? Japanese American redress and African American reparations / Eric K. Yamamoto The reparations movement : an assessment of recent and current activism / Sam Anderson, Muntu Matsimela, and Yusuf Nuruddin Reparations : strategic considerations for Black Americans / C.J. Munford Tulsa reparations : the survivors' story / Charles J. Ogletree Jr Race for power : the global balance of power and reparations / Gerald Horne.