Boston activists seeking $15B in reparations, call on 'White churches' to commit to extending wealth

[Vambram]

Boston activists seeking $15B in reparations, call on 'White churches' to commit to extending wealth

The Boston Task Force on Reparations called on "White Churches" to extend their wealth and help support efforts of paying back the Black community for slavery.

www.foxnews.com

The Boston Task Force on Reparations called on "White churches" to step up and pay the Black community back for racial inequities that root back to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, according to reports.
The Boston Globe reported that Black and White clergy members met in Roxbury for a press conference intended to be held outside, though it was instead held in the basement of the Resurrection Lutheran Church on Saturday because of rain.
The commission was established through a 2022 Boston City Council ordinance and made up of 10 members, including two from the youth community.
In February, the Boston activists called for the city to "fully commit to writing checks" and for a $15 billion payout since the city’s wealth was built on slavery.
"We call sincerely and with a heart filled with faith and Christian love for our White churches to join us and not be silent around this issue of racism and slavery and commit to reparations," Rev. Kevin Peterson said. Peterson is a minister and is trying to rename Faneuil Hall because of its ties to the slave trade in the 18th century.

"We point to them in Christian love to publicly atone for the sins of slavery and we ask them to publicly commit to a process of reparations where they will extend their great wealth — tens of millions of dollars among some of those churches — into the Black community," said Peterson.

 

[Arcangl86]

Boston activists seeking $15B in reparations, call on 'White churches' to commit to extending wealth

The Boston Task Force on Reparations called on "White Churches" to extend their wealth and help support efforts of paying back the Black community for slavery.

www.foxnews.com

The Boston Task Force on Reparations called on "White churches" to step up and pay the Black community back for racial inequities that root back to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, according to reports.
The Boston Globe reported that Black and White clergy members met in Roxbury for a press conference intended to be held outside, though it was instead held in the basement of the Resurrection Lutheran Church on Saturday because of rain.
The commission was established through a 2022 Boston City Council ordinance and made up of 10 members, including two from the youth community.
In February, the Boston activists called for the city to "fully commit to writing checks" and for a $15 billion payout since the city’s wealth was built on slavery.
"We call sincerely and with a heart filled with faith and Christian love for our White churches to join us and not be silent around this issue of racism and slavery and commit to reparations," Rev. Kevin Peterson said. Peterson is a minister and is trying to rename Faneuil Hall because of its ties to the slave trade in the 18th century.

"We point to them in Christian love to publicly atone for the sins of slavery and we ask them to publicly commit to a process of reparations where they will extend their great wealth — tens of millions of dollars among some of those churches — into the Black community," said Peterson.

Can't read the article, but this is very sloppy reporting based on the quote. The article is trying to imply this was an official city organization while it's a bunch of activists with no connection to the government.

 

[JustOneWay]

Can't read the article, but this is very sloppy reporting based on the quote. The article is trying to imply this was an official city organization while it's a bunch of activists with no connection to the government.

Same here. Can't read the article, but I did listen to the video, and she never mentioned white churches.

 

[Arcangl86]

Same here. Can't read the article, but I did listen to the video, and she never mentioned white churches.

That part is legit. But many of the people making that call are themselves members of historically white churches. And it's worth saying, as somebody who is part of that space and personally knows some of the key players, the NDC and Rev. Kevin Peterson are loud but with no real power.

 

[JustOneWay]

Let's not discount this

Task Force on Reparations​

The task force will help the Mayor and the City of Boston on healing racial inequities for descendants of slavery.

Task Force on Reparations

www.boston.gov

The Task Force on Reparations will focus on:

1. Working with a research partner to release a study on the legacy of slavery in Boston and its impact on descendants today
2. Engaging the community throughout the process to include input from lived experience
3. Providing recommendations to the Mayor for reparative justice solutions for Black residents

The OP makes it sound like they were activists, when the reality is the city picked these people to investigate reparations.

 

[Arcangl86]

Let's not discount this

Task Force on Reparations​

The task force will help the Mayor and the City of Boston on healing racial inequities for descendants of slavery.

Task Force on Reparations

www.boston.gov

The Task Force on Reparations will focus on:

1. Working with a research partner to release a study on the legacy of slavery in Boston and its impact on descendants today
2. Engaging the community throughout the process to include input from lived experience
3. Providing recommendations to the Mayor for reparative justice solutions for Black residents

The OP makes it sound like they were activists, when the reality is the city picked these people to investigate reparations.

No, it's two separate groups. There is an official task force to explore reparations for the city. That is not who these people were.

 

[JustOneWay]

No, it's two separate groups. There is an official task force to explore reparations for the city. That is not who these people were.

From the link I provided.

L’Merchie Frazier

www.boston.gov

 

[JustOneWay]

The article is trying to imply this was an official city organization while it's a bunch of activists with no connection to the government.

It is a city project.

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

Just curious, let's assume the numbers are exaggerated for effect, but that they represent possible financial losses of black families over the course of 200+ years of injustice in Boston. Why would this necessarily be a bad thing? If the task force along with activists could trace family histories and possessions like, perhaps, land that was confiscated unjustly or businesses with records that were destroyed through official government acts or mobs of racists that were never brought to justice why would it be a bad thing to attempt to compensate well-documented cases of black families today?

There was a case in California. I'm not certain of all the details, but there was a plot of land near the ocean that was owned by a black family in the 20's I believe. It was taken by the city and turned into a park illegally. almost 100 years later the city gave the land back to the family after confirming the documentation and who the rightful owners were. It cost the city millions in legal fees and lost property, but it was the right thing to do because that land belonged to that family. You can imaging the windfall as the value of that property has increased substatially in that time, but think of the potential wealth that family didn't have access to because it was literally stolen from them.

It's not just black families either. The movie Killers of the Flower Moon is about Oklahoma tribes who came upon oil reserves on their land and began to drill and sell the oil and became quite wealthy. Then the Government came in and basically decided that those Native people couldn't handle that kind of wealth and literally seized property and money from them. White opportunists would also come into town and kill the owners and claim the property. They would also come and woo native women, marry them and then kill their wives to inherit that land. If it were well-documented why would it be a bad thing to pay reparations to those families that were wronged so?

 

[Arcangl86]

It is a city project.

It is not. There are two separate groups. One is the Task Force on Reparations which is an official City of Boston entity appointed by the mayor. This group is the Boston People's Reparations Commission which is a self-appointed group of activists that grew out a local nonprofit. This article is trying to conflate the two so that readers think it's the Boston government proposing the 15b in reparations.

 

[JustOneWay]

It is not. There are two separate groups. One is the Task Force on Reparations which is an official City of Boston entity appointed by the mayor. This group is the Boston People's Reparations Commission which is a self-appointed group of activists that grew out a local nonprofit. This article is trying to conflate the two so that readers think it's the Boston government proposing the 15b in reparations.

What? The link I provided is the Boston.gov website, where it says "The task force will help the Mayor and the City of Boston on healing racial inequities for descendants of slavery." Then it shows "The Team" which happens to have the very same lady as the OP link (you know the one we can't read) and the video is the same lady. If you insist that the article in the OP is not describing the Boston team, then please post something to prove it.

 

[Arcangl86]

What? The link I provided is the Boston.gov website, where it says "The task force will help the Mayor and the City of Boston on healing racial inequities for descendants of slavery." Then it shows "The Team" which happens to have the very same lady as the OP link (you know the one we can't read) and the video is the same lady.

Yes, there is a Reparations Task Force and Fox did appear to interview a member of that Task Force for the article. Because they are trying to confuse the issue and make it appear as if the official government body is endorsing what this group of activists is saying.

If you insist that the article in the OP is not describing the Boston team, then please post something to prove it.

I already showed that these were two different groups, but here. This is a report from one of our local stations.

 

[Vambram]

Can't read the article, but this is very sloppy reporting based on the quote. The article is trying to imply this was an official city organization while it's a bunch of activists with no connection to the government.

The article doesn't imply that at all in my opinion when I read it.

 

[The Liturgist]

Its ironic they want reparations from those churches most associated with the Abolitionist movement. I am opposed to reparations in general, and this in particular. Otherwise, if we get into reparations, there must be compensation for every ancient injustice.

 

[Arcangl86]

Its ironic they want reparations from those churches most associated with the Abolitionist movement. I am opposed to reparations in general, and this in particular. Otherwise, if we get into reparations, there must be compensation for every ancient injustice.

The last American slaves died less than 100 years ago. I don't know I would call that ancient.

 

[FireDragon76]

I understand the sentiment of wanting to do something, but alot of those historic churches aren't in the greatest shape. The average Congregationalist church, which is part of one of the oldest religious denominations in the US, is literally dying.

 

[JustOneWay]

Its ironic they want reparations from those churches most associated with the Abolitionist movement. I am opposed to reparations in general, and this in particular. Otherwise, if we get into reparations, there must be compensation for every ancient injustice.

Here you go. Read through the other times the government has shelled out reparations, then explain the irony of not considering the slavery issue.

The United States Has Paid Reparations for a Host of Issues. Why not Slavery? - New York State Bar Association

The United States and governments around the world have paid reparations even when they had no part in inflicting the damage. So why is it that Black Americans haven’t been compensated for centuries of slavery followed by decades of segregation? This was the question addressed by a panel of...

nysba.org

The United States Has Paid Reparations for a Host of Issues. Why not Slavery?​

"Author A. Kirsten Mullen pointed out that the United States government has paid reparations to Japanese families who were interned during World War II, families who lost loved ones during the Sept. 11 attacks, and to Americans held hostage in Iran. The federal government even paid reparations to slave owners for the emancipation of their slaves in the midst of the Civil War. "

Six times victims have received reparations

Victims of the Holocaust, apartheid, Japanese internment, and forced sterilization got reparations. Why not victims of slavery and Jim Crow?

www.vox.com

Six times victims have received reparations — including four in the US​

Japanese internment​

Forced sterilization​

Tuskegee experiment​

Rosewood​

Here is the REAL irony...

There Was a Time Reparations Were Actually Paid Out - Just Not to Formerly Enslaved People - UConn Today

UConn Professor Thomas Craemer writes that reparations relating to slavery have been paid in the past - just not to formerly enslaved people.

today.uconn.edu

There Was a Time Reparations Were Actually Paid Out – Just Not to Formerly Enslaved People​

"In the United States, reparations to slave owners in Washington, D.C., were paid at the height of the Civil War. On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the “Act for the Release of certain Persons held to Service or Labor within the District of Columbia” into law.

It gave former slave owners $300 per enslaved person set free. More than 3,100 enslaved people saw their freedom paid for in this way, for a total cost in excess of $930,000 – almost $25 million in today’s money."

 

[The Liturgist]

Here you go. Read through the other times the government has shelled out reparations, then explain the irony of not considering the slavery issue.

Well, the problem is that, as pointed out by @Arcangl86 , the last emancipated slaves died some time ago. And the last slaveowners likewise died some time ago. So there is no one to grant reparations to.

And since the majority of Congregationalist churches in Boston, with the notable exception of the traditionalist Park Street Church, which is I believe the last Congregationalist church in Boston that did not become a part of either the United Church of Christ or the Unitarian Universalist Association, are, as pointed out by @FireDragon76 , in a state of decline, very severe decline, the only way they could pay reparations would be to sell their property.

And forcing these alleged “white churches” to do that would be unlawful, since it would constitute religious discrimination and violate the Establishment Clause. But supposing for a minute that the First Amendment did not exist: considering that these churches in Boston were consistently among the most active in their Abolitionist advocacy of any in the United States, and those of the UCC are among the most consistent in advocating for left-wing policies, whereas Park Street Church, although it is conservative, has substantial resources, and uses those resources to serve the community, and is also extremely ethnically diverse, indeed one of the most ethnically diverse churches in Boston (ironically more ethnically diverse than many of the UCC and Unitarian Universalist parishes), to take such action against them would be an “own goal.”

But right now what this amounts to is just absurd agitation by a pressure group which is having the effect of promoting racial division and disunity.

 

[JustOneWay]

So there is no one to grant reparations to.

Except for the families.

But right now what this amounts to is just absurd agitation by a pressure group which is having the effect of promoting racial division and disunity.

The City of Boston assembled the team. The City of Boston is the pressure group. Racial division has been here for hundreds of years, this is about healing the families of those who were affected due to racial division.

 

[FireDragon76]

Well, the problem is that, as pointed out by @Arcangl86 , the last emancipated slaves died some time ago. And the last slaveowners likewise died some time ago. So there is no one to grant reparations to.

And since the majority of Congregationalist churches in Boston, with the notable exception of the traditionalist Park Street Church, which is I believe the last Congregationalist church in Boston that did not become a part of either the United Church of Christ or the Unitarian Universalist Association, are, as pointed out by @FireDragon76 , in a state of decline, very severe decline, the only way they could pay reparations would be to sell their property.

And forcing these alleged “white churches” to do that would be unlawful, since it would constitute religious discrimination and violate the Establishment Clause. But supposing for a minute that the First Amendment did not exist: considering that these churches in Boston were consistently among the most active in their Abolitionist advocacy of any in the United States, and those of the UCC are among the most consistent in advocating for left-wing policies, whereas Park Street Church, although it is conservative, has substantial resources, and uses those resources to serve the community, and is also extremely ethnically diverse, indeed one of the most ethnically diverse churches in Boston (ironically more ethnically diverse than many of the UCC and Unitarian Universalist parishes), to take such action against them would be an “own goal.”

But right now what this amounts to is just absurd agitation by a pressure group which is having the effect of promoting racial division and disunity.

The United Church of Christ has alot of historically Black congregations. About a quarter of our regular attendees are African Americans.

The least ethnically diverse mainline denomination is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It's around 98 percent white. It also exists in its own theological ecosystem/bubble.