Redress for Historical Injustices in the United States

by Martin, Michael T.; Yaquinto, Marilyn

• ISBN13: 9780822340249
• ISBN10: 0822340240
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-08-30
• Publisher: Duke Univ Pr

Summary

An exceptional resource, this comprehensive reader brings together primary and secondary documents related to the reparations movement in the United States. While the movement is united in its goal of "repairing" the injustices to African Americans that have followed from the long history of slavery and Jim Crow, this anthology reveals the 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 material reparations: monetary compensation, government investment in disenfranchised communities, the restitution of lost property and rights. 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. Some essays theorize the historical and legal bases of claims for redress; some examine the history, strengths, and limitations of the reparations movement; and some explore its relation to human rights and social justice movements abroad. Others 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, many of them engage with arguments against reparations. Among the forty-seven 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 efforts to make amends, such as the Mandate for the Greensboro, North Carolina, Truth and Reconciliation Commission.Redress for Historical Injustices in the United Statesis a thorough assessment of the past, present, and future of the modern reparations movement.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xix
On Redress for Racial Injustice	p. 1
Racial Inequality and White Privilege
Racial Injustices in U.S. History and Their Legacy	p. 33
Race Preferences and Race Privileges	p. 55
A Sociology of Wealth and Racial Inequality	p. 91
Law, Citizenship, and the State
The Case for Reparations	p. 121
Toward a Theory of Racial Reparations	p. 134
The Constitutionality of Black Reparations	p. 143
The Theory of Restitution: The African American Case	p. 160
Reparations to African Americana?	p. 170
Reparations: Formation and Modes of Redress
"A Day of Reckoning": Dreams of Reparations	p. 203
Forty Acres, or, An Act of Bad Faith	p. 222
The Economic Basis for Reparations to Black America	p. 238
The Political Economy of Ending Racism and the World Conference against Racism: The Economics of Reparations	p. 249
The Rise of the Reparations Movement	p. 255
Case Studies of Injustice and Intervention
Nineteenth-Century New York City's Complicity with Slavery: Documenting the Case for Reparations	p. 275
Railroads, Race, and Reparations	p. 294
Reparations: A Viable Strategy to Address the Enigma of African American Health	p. 305
Residential Segregation and Persistent Urban Poverty	p. 331
Mobilizing Strategies
The Politics of Racial Reparations	p. 353
The Case for U.S. Reparations to African Americans	p. 371
The Promises and Pitfalls of Reparations	p. 379
Repatriation as Reparations for Slavery and Jim Crow	p. 402
What's Next? Japanese American Redress and African American Reparations	p. 411
The Reparations Movement: An Assessment of Recent and Current Activism	p. 427
Reparations: Strategic Considerations for Black Americans	p. 447
Tulsa Reparations: The Survivors' Story	p. 452
Race for Power: The Global Balance of Power and Reparations	p. 469
Documents
Federal Acts and Resolutions
The Second Confiscation Act (1862)	p. 486
Special Field Orders, No. 15 (1865)	p. 490
Freedmen's Bureau Act (1865)	p. 493
Southern Homestead Act (1866)	p. 495
House Resolution 29 (1867)	p. 498
Civil Liberties Act (1988)	p. 501
House Resolution 356 (2000)	p. 503
House Resolution 40 (2005)	p. 506
Senate Resolution 39 (2005)	p. 513
Senate Resolution 44 (2005)	p. 515
State Legislation
Michigan House Bill No. 5562 (2000)	p. 519
California Senate Bill No. 2199 (2000)	p. 520
California Senate Joint Resolution No. 1 (2001)	p. 522
New Jersey African-American Reconciliation Study Commission Act (2003)	p. 524
Texas House Joint Resolution 25 (2003)	p. 530
Maryland House Joint Resolution 4 (2004)	p. 533
Municipal Resolutions
City of Detroit (1989)	p. 537
City of Chicago (2000)	p. 539
City of San Francisco (2001)	p. 542
City of New York Resolution 41 (2002)	p. 544
City of New York Resolution 219 (2002)	p. 547
District of Columbia (2003)	p. 549
City of New York Resolution 57 (2004)	p. 552
City of New York Resolution 195 (2004)	p. 554
City of Philadelphia (2004)	p. 556
Advocacy and Activism
United Negro Improvement Association (1920): "Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World"	p. 560
Civil Rights Congress (1951): "We Charge Genocide"	p. 567
Malcolm X (1964): Appeal to African Heads of State	p. 580
Black Panther Party for Self Defense (1967): What We Want; What We Believe	p. 585
Republic of New Africa (1968): Declaration of Independence	p. 588
Black Panther Party (1969): Reparations for Vietnam	p. 592
National Black Economic Development Conference (1969): The Black Manifesto	p. 593
National Black Political Agenda (1972): The Gary Declaration	p. 600
Black Panther Party (1973): Petition to the United Nations	p. 606
Nation of Islam (1990): A Case for Reparations	p. 608
Black Radical Congress (1999): The Freedom Agenda	p. 612
Reparations Support Committee (1999/2000): "To the President of the United States of America"	p. 620
Randall Robinson, TransAfrica Forum (2000): Restatement of the Black Manifesto	p. 621
National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (2000): The Reparations Campaign	p. 625
The NDABA Movement (2004): National Reparations Petition	p. 629
NAACP (2005): NAACP Supports Reintroduction of Reparations Study Legislation	p. 631
American Bar Association Recommendation (2006)	p. 634
Episcopal Church (2006): Call for the Episcopal Church to Study Responsibility for Reparations	p. 635
Case Studies of Redress
The White House (1997): Apology for Study Done in Tuskegee	p. 638
Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 (2000)	p. 642
Mandate for the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2004)	p. 645
Rosewood Victims v. State of Florida (2004): Special Master's Final Report	p. 649
Florida Statute 1004.60 (2004)	p. 657
Florida Statute 1009.55 (2004)	p. 658
Lawsuits
Timothy Pigford, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Dan Glickman, Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture, Defendant (1998): Opinion	p. 661
Civil Actions Nos. 97-1978, 98-1693 (1999): Opinion	p. 665
In re African-American Slave Descendants Litigation (2004): Opinion	p. 668
Selected Bibliography	p. 673
Contributors	p. 683
Acknowledgment of Copyrights	p. 687
Index	p. 691
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