Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act

Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act

bill

Country	United States
Dey apply to jurisdiction	United States

De Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act, be an Act of Congress insyd de United States dem introduce insyd 1989 by Rep. John Conyers. De act dey aim make e create a commission to examine de merits of introducing reparations to African-Americans for US slavery. Na de most recent sponsor of de act be Rep. Ayanna Pressley, on January 3, 2025, to de 119th Congress. Na dem sanso propose de bill previously by Sheila Jackson Lee insyd January 2023 before ein death insyd 2024.

History

Na Conyers introduce de act insyd 1989, wey he successively introduce am insyd each Congress til ein retirement almost 30 years later.

Na Juneteenth 2019 see de House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties conduct a hearing on dis issue, insyd wat na dem see as a historic sitting, given de previous reparations discussion insyd dat venue wey take place insyd 2007, "one year before de election of de country ein first black presido".

Na Rep. Conyers die insyd October 2019, wey na he sponsor de Act each den every Legislative session from 1989 to 2017. De "40" number dey refer to "de unfulfilled promise" na de United States "make make dem freed slaves: dat after de Civil War, dem go get forty acres and a mule".

Cory Booker be sponsor of a companion bill insyd de Senate. Na Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi express support for H.R. 40. Na chaw of de 2020 Democratic presidential candidates express dema support.

Contents

The bill, first proposed in 1989 by Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (former U.S. Representative for Michigan) calling for the creation of Commission to study and submit a formal report to Congress and the American people with its findings and recommendations on remedies and reparation proposals for African-Americans, as a result of ;

1. the institution of slavery, which included the Federal and State governments that supported the institution of slavery.
2. the de jure and de facto discrimination against freed slaves and their descendants from the end of the Civil War to the present day.
3. the lingering negative effects of the institution of slavery.
4. the manner in which textual and digital instructional resources and technologies are being used to deny the inhumanity of slavery and the crime against humanity of people of African descent.
5. the role of Northern complicity in the Southern based institution of slavery.
6. the direct benefits to societal institutions, public and private sectors, as well as higher education, corporate, religious and associational entities.
7. recommending appropriate ways to educate the American public of the Commission's findings.
8. recommending appropriate remedies in consideration of the Commission's findings.

Bill excerpt

• (a) Findings.—De Congress don see say—
  (1) about 4,000,000 Africans plus demma pikin wey dem take slave for United States plus de colonies wey turn United States from 1619 go 1865;
  (2)slavery dem fit dey run am by law and constitution for America from 1789 go reach 1865;
  (3)De slavery wey dey happen for United States be serious wickedness wey deny Africans dem life, freedom, citizenship rights, plus culture, plus e no allow dem enjoy de work wey dem do;
  (4)plenty research, legal papers, community proof, plus popular culture signs dey form the reason wey we dey check how slavery still dey affect living African-Americans plus society for United States; plus
  (5) after dem ban slavery, United States Government, from Federal to State to local levels, still dey enable, support plus dey chop money from tings wey dey make life hard for African-Americans, like share cropping, convict leasing, Jim Crow, redlining, bad education, plus how dem dey treat dem funny for criminal justice system; plus
  (6) Sekof of de long history plus ongoing wahala, African-Americans dey face serious economic, educational, plus health problems. E get plenty issues like almost 1,000,000 Black people for jail; unemployment rate dey double White pipo rate; plus dem dey get less than 1/16 the money wey White families get, this difference don worsen over time no be better.
• Purpose.—Dis Act wey dem pass be to set up one commission to check plus come wahala wey go fit help African-Americans for dis kain matter.—
  (1) slavery dey happen, e get de Trans-Atlantic and di local 'trade' wey start from 1565 for colonial Florida plus from 1619 go reach 1865 for de other colonies wey turn United States, plus e include de Federal plus State governments wey gree support de slavery matter by law;
  (2) de wahala wey freed slaves plus demma pikin dem dey face from Civil War time till now, e get economic, political, educational, and social discrimination;
  (3) de wahala wey slavery cause plus de discrimination wey dem talk for paragraph (1) den (2) dey affect living African-Americans plus de whole society for United States;
  (4) how dem dey use text and digital tools to cover up de wickedness of slavery and de crime wey people wey be African descent face for United States;
  (5) De role of Northern complicity for de institution of slavery wey de base Southern ;
  (6) de direct benefits wey go fit help society, whether na public or private, like universities, companies, churches, plus groups;
  (7) so, make we suggest better ways to let the American people sabi wetin de Commission find out;
  (8) den so, make dem suggest correct ways to solve de wahala based on wetin de Commission talk for de matter wey dey for paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), plus (6); plus
  (9)make you carry de result of de exam go Congress, plus de suggestions wey follow am.

Legislative history

As of April 17, 2025:

Congress	Short title	Bill number(s)	Date dem introduce	Sponsor(s)	# of cosponsors	Latest status
101st Congress	Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act	H.R. 3745	November 20, 1989	John Conyers (D-MI)	24	He die insyd Committee
113th Congress		H.R. 40	January 3, 2013	John Conyers (D-MI)	2	He die insyd Committee
114th Congress		H.R. 40	January 6, 2015	John Conyers (D-MI)	2	He die insyd Committee
115th Congress	Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act	H.R. 40	January 3, 2017	John Conyers (D-MI)	35	He die insyd Committee
116th Congress		H.R. 40	January 3, 2019	Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)	173	She die insyd Committee
		S. 1083	April 9, 2019	Cory Booker (D-NJ)	20	He die insyd Committee
117th Congress		H.R. 40	January 4, 2021	Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)	196	She die insyd Committee
		S. 40	January 25, 2021	Cory Booker (D-NJ)	22	He die insyd Committee
118th Congress		H.R. 40	January 9, 2023	Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)	130	She die insyd Committee
		S. 40	January 24, 2023	Cory Booker (D-NJ)	24	He die insyd Committee
119th Congress		H.R. 40	January 3, 2025	Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)	76	Dem refer to de House Committee on de Judiciary

Check am too

• John Conyers
• Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity

• Racism in the United States
• Reparations for slavery in the United States
• Slavery