The New York City Council is seriously considering a proposal for reparations to be given to black New Yorkers for slavery, as well as an initiative aimed at removing artwork deemed “racist” from public property.
Councilwoman Farah Louis, a Democrat representing Brooklyn, introduced her reparations bill last Thursday, coinciding with the state Legislature in Albany approving a similar bill. The state bill has been forwarded to Governor Kathy Hochul for review and potential approval. If passed, it would establish a commission to examine the effects of slavery and racial discrimination across the entire Empire State, potentially leading to compensation payments.
Louis’ bill, focusing exclusively on the city, proposes the creation of a nine-member task force tasked with delivering a report within one year of appointment. Like the state bill, the recommendations put forth by this task force would be non-binding and solely advisory in nature.
This reparations bill is part of a comprehensive legislative package introduced by several council members of color who argue that it aims to address historical injustices. Crystal Hudson, also from Brooklyn and affiliated with the Democratic Party, has introduced a measure that would require the city’s Commission of Racial Equity to establish a “Truth, Healing, and Reconciliation” process. This process would identify historical facts relating to the city’s past involvement with slavery and recommend changes for local government and institutions to prevent any recurrence.
New York abolished slavery over two centuries ago and suffered significant losses, with over 50,000 men fighting to free slaves during the Civil War.
Another bill, proposed by Sandy Nurse, another Democratic council member from Brooklyn, would require the city’s Public Design Commission, in consultation with relevant city agencies, to publicly disclose a plan for the removal of monuments and artwork on city land that is deemed to glorify ex-slave owners, individuals who profited from slavery, or those involved in “systemic” crimes against indigenous peoples or humanity. Additionally, the bill calls for the installation of explanatory plaques near schools that are named after individuals who profited from slavery or committed other “crimes against humanity.”
In 2017, former Mayor Bill de Blasio sparked controversy by establishing a commission to review monuments throughout the five boroughs following violence by white supremacist groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, protesting the removal of a Confederate statue. The commission ultimately recommended the removal of just one statue from Central Park: that of Dr. J. Marion Sims, a pioneering 19th-century gynecologist who conducted experiments on enslaved black women.
Councilwoman Louis expressed her support for the legislative package on Twitter, describing it as a significant step toward rectifying long-standing injustices and acknowledging the need for genuine reparations. She emphasized the importance of confronting the pain and inequalities of the past to build a fair and inclusive society.
However, the bills have encountered strong opposition from more moderate and conservative members of the City Council, including Minority Leader Joe Borelli of Staten Island (Republican) and Robert Holden of Queens (Democratic). Holden emphasized that New York has a proud history of opposing slavery and providing refuge to those seeking freedom, suggesting that the focus should be on addressing the city’s current pressing issues rather than engaging in divisive debates over copycat bills that detract from real problems.
Mayor Adams’ office has announced that they are currently reviewing the proposed legislation but have not provided further comment at this time.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
24 Responses
They better do the same for survivors of the Holocaust , Inquisition , Churban Bais Reshon , & Shenei , all the others !!!!
How do I apply for black citizenship?
It makes sense. Now let’s advocate Reparation Payments for the Jewish people. As mentioned in the Bible they were slaves. Jewish People should get first in line due to it happened first.
Out of control. How do we move our large Frum communities to blue states?
If you think this won’t happen, you’re sadly mistaken. From New York to Californina, woketard municipalities will in fact cut them checks. This will of course be unlawful, unethical and immoral, but politically necessary as the Democrat Party cannot afford to lose the black vote in the midst of the LG-Trans-The-Kids-And-Flood-The-Country-With-Invaders insanity. Most blacks oppose said insanity, so this is the Hail Mary exigency plan to keep them on the Democrat voter rolls.
This blessed nation was a beacon of light and a sentinel of freedom for the entire human race. As my father עליו השלום would say, “G-d created America as His כלי to save the Jewish People.” What can we do now but daven that He save our beleaguered country. הַבֵּט מִשָּׁמַֽיִם וּרְאֵה.
I weep for America.
Once the barn door is opened, it will be difficult to close it. I expect to see floodgates of unpleasant public pressure by mass protests from the Black community or even BLM style riots. This needs to be nipped it the bud before the weeds take root and are established. Sadly, Jewish communities and businesses will be, as always, victimized.
Bestcpa,
We already got reparations during ביזת מצרים וביזת הים
At the time of the Spanish Inquisition America was discovered by Columbus
.
Councilwoman Farah Louis, a Democrat representing Brooklyn, introduced her reparations bill last Thursday
She isn’t descended from American slaves. Her parents were Haitian immigrants so even if you believe that reparations should be paid she certainly doesn’t qualify for them
Farah Louis was endorsed by our dedicated askanim.
We should have voted for Flatbush Girl!
Why is this nuts? America enslaved real live human beings. Why should America not pay for its crimes and remove racist statues? The democrats though, were the ones that were pro-slavery the racists and are still using blacks by doing there best to keep them poor and underprivileged so that the black community should need to rely on them for programs and to be saved from the evil white man, so they, the democrats should be the ones to pay.
And so should the descendants of the 50k soldiers from NY who gave their life during the Civil War get reparations.
If their deaths don’t count then they certainly deserve compensation.
Ari Knobler – Don’t weep for America. Weep for Yerushalayim! אֶזְכְּרָה אֱלֹקים וְאֶהֱמָיָה. בִּרְאוֹתִי כָּל עִיר עַל תִּלָּהּ בְּנוּיָה. וְעִיר
-הָאֱלֹקים מֻשְׁפֶּלֶת עַד שְׁאוֹל תַּחְתִּיָּה. וּבְכָל זֹאת אָנוּ לְיָ- וְעֵינֵינוּ לְיָ.
Here’s the difference between blacks and Jews. After the Holocaust the surviving Jews miraculously got their act together and built themselves to be upstanding citizens to their host country, built thriving businesses and did everything in their power to make sure that their suffering from the past will not be a burden on anyone.
Blacks on the other hand…….
America on it’s final stages
Just like the Roman Empire that eventually collapsed so will this charade
We are Germany early 30s
Where the money has no value
In the end it’s the Jews that get the blame
Biden is the nail in the coffin president
We are currently at 130% plus of gdp
And they have plans for more
Totally unsustainable
Real estate used to be a pretty solid investment now with this current bunch you are guilty for being a landlord
How much longer before the pitchfork revolution happens
These are scary times indeed
This is probably taboo to say or even conjecture about, but let’s be realistic. If you hand a bunch of low-life drug-addicted people $20-25000 each, what do you think will happen in the next week or so? They’ll all be dead of an overdose. Need I say more?
What if I’m white but identify as black? Do I have to prove that I honestly FEEL that way?
The number of Blacks who can document that they are descended from slaves held in America is minimal. I’d say the majority of Blacks presently living in New York City have their roots in the Caribbean, Haiti or Africa, not the American slave plantations.
If this passes, I don’t ever want to hear from anyone criticizing people who cheat on their taxes. If this is what’s being done with our money, then we should make every effort possible to keep it out of the government’s hands.
Obviously no one should do anything that could land them in jail, though.
@A56. It’s NOT America that will pay for this it’s US…the Taxpayers who will end up footing the bill!
> coffee addict
There are two stages of such asset gathering, and each stage for a different reason, and neither one was reparations for enslaved servitude.
The second stage is not explicit in the text and comes only from Rabbinic tradition. The tradition states that some (not all) of the assets that the Egyptians carried with them in their unprovoked attack on the Jews at the sea were forfeit in the same way as any asset used in the commission of a crime (in that case, war crime) are forfeit – in olden days it was the accepted rule that to the victor belong the spoils. It has nothing to do with reparations for servitude.
The first stage is the more famous as it is explicitly in the text (exodus 12 verses 35-36). But even then, it had nothing to do with reparations for forced servitude. The story in general is that G-d gave the Egyptians commands (to let the Jews go NOW) multiple times, but the Egyptians defied G-d, so G-d punished them, and in principle whatever the Jews took with them was as punishment (Exodus 11 first few verses) for the Egyptians defying the commands from G-d and has nothing to do with any reparations for past servitude. Indeed, we see (Exodus 10 verse 25) that the Egyptians had to give the Jews animals to be offered as atoning sacrifices for their defying G-d, but has nothing to do with reparations for forced servitude. And indeed the Egyptians were paying for the Jews to intervene on their behalf to save their lives (Exodus 12 verse 32). And further additional reason was that the Egyptians so rushed the Jews (verse 33) that it made it impossible for the Jews to make appropriate preparations for such a journey (verse 35 clearly talks about clothing and vessels and not about “nuggets” of precious materials) the Egyptians willingly gave the Jews what the Jews claimed they needed just to get the Jews out faster than normally possible. Nothing about that has to do with reparations for past servitude.
> A56
The short answer is that it is nuts because (1) there is no way to calculate any reparations and (2) what about all other reparations (how does a one-sided reparation represent justice)?
In more detail, slavery was practiced by Blacks on Whites and by Blacks on Blacks, and everywhere else world wide. In fact, detailed documented examples exist (by the actual Blacks involved who wrote about it themselves) with stories on how they were captured. As example, when one group of Blacks went on a raiding party to enslave a rival group of Blacks in Africa, the second group tuned the tables around and captured the first group and sold the first group to Whites. So just who should be paying reparations to whom and how much?
And pagan Roman historians write about the days of (for example) the Bar Kochba revolt where Moors (those are North African Blacks and only much later became used as a term for Muslims) massacred hundreds of thousands of Jews and enslaving untold numbers of Jews as well. Who should pay reparations to whom and how much?
And the Barbary Blacks raided Europe ad enslaved more Whites than America enslaved Blacks. And they attacked American ships and though repelled, it shows this was a two-way “war”.
America itself was at most 5% of the trans-Atlantic slave trade (the trans-Atlantic slave trade is separate then the Arab/Muslim slave trade on the east side of Africa and the Black-on-Black internal slavery). So who pays reparations to whom and how much? And what about the other 95% and the internal Africa slave trade and the Arab/Muslim slave trade?
And the list goes on and on ad infinitum.
The second part of why this is nuts is because it was NOT “America” that profited from the slaves – it was the “south” and the Democrats that profited. Why should the “north” that literally went to war at an enormous cost of their own lives in order to free slaves pay anything to the slaves? One would think the slaves ow their freedom to the “north” (and at the time that is exactly how the freed slaves saw it and gathered donations to show their appreciation).