The New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies convened its inaugural meeting on July 30, an event described by State Senator James Sanders as “a significant step forward in addressing the legacy of slavery, subsequent discrimination against people of African descent, and the ongoing impact of these injustices.”  

The New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies meets with Governor Kathy Hochul

The Commission, authorized by a bill sponsored by Senator Sanders and Assemblymember Michaelle Solanges and signed by Governor Kathy Hochul last December, is charged with examining the historical and present-day consequences of slavery and discrimination, with the goal of developing recommendations for reparative justice.

Among the Commission’s nine members is Linda Tarrant-Reid, Executive Director of New Rochelle’s Lincoln Park Conservancy.  A recording of the Commission’s first meeting can be viewed here. 

This legislation is huge for New York and has the potential to lead the nation in analyzing and combating the manifestations of racism in legislation and institutions.   

New York is the second state (after California) to study the issue of reparations.   In a press statement in December, Senator Sanders stated, “Today, we plant a seed of hope, not just for the City of New York and New York State, but for the nation. The bill … is a testament to the power of persistence, of unwavering voices demanding justice. Let this be a beacon, a call to action for every corner of this country to confront their own histories, to acknowledge the injustices that bind us, and to work together towards a future where reparations are not just a word, but a lived reality for all.”

In the wake of the continuous incidents of racial violence in New Rochelle and throughout the nation, one is reminded that racism, a social construct, was built into the fabric of the nation; codified in the law as early as slavery, and has lived continuously through generations, fueled by those with power to keep Black people oppressed in all systems and institutions.  

Legislators have a huge responsibility to address institutional and structural racism through their advocacy and analysis of bills and laws. It is also the responsibility of the people, staff and citizens who are employed by such institutions to learn how they knowingly, and unknowingly, contribute to the perpetuation of racism.   Dismantling racism is not about taking from “some” to give to “others”, it’s about creating a system where everyone has legitimate access to resources and are on the same playing field.  

New York’s reparations commission will take on a monumental assignment in researching the impact that racism has had on generations of people who are still exploited, oppressed, excluded and are disproportionately represented negatively in education, housing, health care, employment, incarceration outcomes, and more.  

The idea of reparations can never “undo” the scars that racism has left behind or the harm that it continues to cause.  However, the advocacy to finally hold the country accountable to acknowledging the ugly truth about the impact of racism is a move toward empowerment and healing a nation that is gravely suffering today from this social construct that so many have fought to dismantle.    

In alliance with this bill, New Rochelle Against Racism (NewRoAR) is hosting a free workshop August 23-25 that identifies what racism is, how it has negatively impacted our society (both those who have benefited from racism and those who have suffered directly from it), and how racist institutions continue to mistreat people based on the color of their skin.  More information on New RoAR’s anti-racist community training is available here.