A new call for reparations for Black Americans is gaining speed in New York. The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) and the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) are urging state leaders to move quickly on reparations, releasing a report arguing that slavery and decades of discriminatory policies continue to shape racial disparities in wealth, housing, health, education and the criminal justice system.
The report, “The Other New York: The Legacy of Slavery and the Case for Reparations Now,” was released Tuesday as the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies continues its work examining the state’s history of slavery and discrimination against people of African descent. The organizations said the evidence demonstrates an urgent need for reparative policies rather than further delays.
“Reparations are a debt that is owed. Enslaved Black people built the foundation of New York’s economy, but Black families in our state still face racism that has been codified into our laws and budgets,” Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Director of the Racial Justice Center at the NYCLU, said in a statement.
Because of its location in the north, folks often forget about the deep ties New York had to chattel slavery. More than 20,000 New Yorkers owned Black people at the height of slavery in America.
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“New York state was not a bystander to slavery — it created, enacted, and protected the institution of slavery. Reparations must be extended to all Black New Yorkers descended from those enslaved by New York state, and to all Black New Yorkers still living under the systems slavery built,” Owens-Chaplin continued.
The report argues that government-sanctioned discrimination persisted long after abolition through redlining, housing segregation, unequal schools, environmental racism, over-policing and voter suppression, creating systemic barriers that continue to affect Black communities today.
Among its findings, the report says the median wealth of Black New Yorkers is about $18,870, compared with $276,900 for white New Yorkers. It also concludes that neighborhoods subjected to redlining decades ago remain among the state’s poorest communities and continue to experience disproportionate environmental and health burdens.
The report was released weeks after state lawmakers extended the deadline for the reparations commission’s final recommendations to 2029. NYCLU officials criticized the delay, arguing that Black New Yorkers continue to experience the economic and social consequences of historical discrimination while the state postpones action.
We previously told you that New York’s reparations commission was created after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation in December 2023 establishing a formal study of reparations. While the commission itself does not have the authority to award reparations, they were tasked to gather public testimony and recommend potential remedies to the governor.
The NYCLU and LDF also noted that reparations should not just be direct financial compensation. Instead, they say policies addressing disparities in housing, education, environmental justice, health care and economic opportunity are necessary to repair generations of harm created by slavery and discriminatory public policies.
“From the destruction of the thriving Black Seneca Village community on Manhattan’s Upper West Side to make way for Central Park to the so-called urban renewal highways of 1960s and 70s, the systemic displacement and undermining of Black communities, homeownership, and businesses is quite literally a part of New York’s DNA,” Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the NYCLU, said.
She added, “Our report demands that lawmakers finally provide reparations to repair the harm that still exists today. Black New Yorkers deserve more than another study. They deserve reparations now.”
