In 2023, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation creating the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies. The commission would explore the state’s role in slavery, its “lasting effects … on people of African descent,” as well as possible reparative measures.
On Saturday, the commission held a public hearing to solicit feedback from black New Yorkers on what reparations should look like in practice, including who should be eligible, what forms of compensation should take, and how the state should address the enduring effects of slavery and discrimination.
To say the least, the state may not have been prepared for some of the demands that were made.
Although more than 160 years have passed since the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, some black New Yorkers maintain that they are owed compensation from Americans whose ancestors never owned slaves, arrived on these shores decades after emancipation, or fought — and even died — in our nation’s bloodiest war to end it.
Fox News put together a video (below) highlighting key moments from the hearing as well as their own interviews with some of the attendees.
[Emphasis added.]
One man, whose claim to black identity was not immediately evident from his appearance, suggested reparations of $800,000 for “each foundation of black Americans.” While the phrase itself was ambiguous, his subsequent comments, along with testimony from other attendees, indicated that he was calling for an $800,000 payment to each black American.
“We need $800,000 for each foundation of black Americans,” he said. “That’s simple. In New York, that’s about the cost of living that’ll get you a home or a small business or for you to recover from any financial duress.”
“It shouldn’t only be a check, but it should start with a check,” Brooke Lean told the commission.
Speaking to Fox afterward, she elaborated on her remarks: “Now there are a lot of badges and incidents of slavery that also have to be covered under reparations, but it needs to start with payments. Because our ancestors worked how many years for free? … If you worked at a job, and they did not pay you, you would have to get back pay for that.”
Lean added, “Then we can start addressing education issues, redlining issues, policing issues, all of these other issues that are badges and incidents of slavery.”
Rex Burns, who spoke at the hearing, told Fox, “Cash, cause it’s tangible. Uh, it’s right in front of you, you know. It’s something you have.”
In her testimony, Caprice Reins argued that black Americans are “owed a debt.” She said, “And my grandfather, his father, and his grandparents were slaves here. And so, I think that we are owed a debt. Reparations is very important.”
An unidentified woman claimed, “It’s about the blood, sweat, and tears of my ancestors. My grandparents, my parents, my grandparents, my great-grandparents, my great-great grandparents.”
It’s about her wallet.
For one young man, clad in a hoodie emblazoned with the US Freedmen Project logo, the key words were “direct cash payments.” He testified:
But from the state of New York, what we can see is because of their intricate dealings with slavery, when we talk about [inaudible —possibly “Walsh”], we talk about the stock exchange, and those first stocks and bonds being people that were in bondage right? And in chains. And so, New York is uniquely positioned to be one of the states that could, based on this budget, have the funds to actually pay direct cash payments.Most of the states, they’re not in the position. But, in that instance, I think both the state of New York and the federal government, it has to start with direct cash payments.
Tanasia Poke told the panel that “financial compensation is really the only way, I think, to really get true justice. It’s been the greatest impact to our community overall — generationally. And, so, by policy and finance, it’s how it’s been institutionalized in the first place, it’s the way to repair it.”
By creating this commission in 2023, Gov. Hochul raised expectations among many black constituents in New York. The concept of reparations evidently passed political muster because, after three years of study and deliberation, the commission is now holding public hearings to help shape its recommendations on how to “close the racial wealth gap.”
While her political base may have well received the initiative, one has to wonder whether anyone stopped to consider how many potential claimants there might be in a state as large and diverse as New York, or who, precisely, would qualify for compensation.
Beyond the questionable political wisdom of taking the idea of reparations seriously, did Gov. Hochul and members of the New York State Legislature give any thought to the fiscal implications? The state is already facing multibillion-dollar budget gaps in the years ahead. Yet some speakers at the hearing proposed reparations payments that, if implemented, could saddle the state with costs in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
But the hearing made one thing abundantly clear: for many advocates, reparations are not about symbolic gestures, educational initiatives, or community investments. They are about cash payments, and large ones at that. By creating this commission, state leaders opened a door that may be difficult to close. After raising expectations and encouraging New Yorkers to imagine what they believe they are owed, Albany may soon discover that the political appeal of reparations is far easier to embrace than the staggering cost of delivering them.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on LinkedIn.
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