By Ryan Coleman
I have always been about big solutions to end problems…to make this a better world. I am tired of anti- Blackness. I am tired of waiting for equality. I am tired of the American Dream being out of reach for most Black Marylanders. I believe that to stop systematic racism and ensure Black people are treated fairly the following must be done:
- Reparations
- Public education must educate Black children
- Increased homeownership
- Free tuition for college and trade schools
- Personal responsibility for excellence
These are my top five major solutions to ensure Black Marylanders are treated fairly and can live the American Dream. I will only be focusing on reparations in this column.
I want to speak to individuals who do not believe in reparations. German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller in 1946 wrote a post-war confessional prose piece:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.Then they came for me–and there was no one left to speak for me.”
This prose highlights that we are all in this fight together. Just because it does not directly benefit you doesn’t mean it is not the right and just thing to do.
We will never achieve racial justice in America if this country does not examine the impact of slavery and its legacy – and make strides toward achieving reparatory justice. No amount of material resources or monetary compensation can ever be sufficient restitution for the spiritual, mental, cultural and physical damage inflicted on Black Americans, who were ripped from their families and forced into labor for the enrichment of Maryland.
After the “abolition” of slavery, those emancipated suffered violent repression, oppression, exploitation and deprivation under Jim Crow laws and Black codes in the South, as well as de facto segregation in every region of this nation.
Maryland’s southern counties housed nearly the same number of Whites as they did enslaved Blacks. Free Blacks represented less than 10 percent of the population of southern counties. It must be made clear that slave owners not only made money off the chattel enslavement of Black Americans, but they then made money multiple times over off the land that the enslaved worked.
Though the 2007 apology by the Maryland General Assembly is notable, it is not enough.
Black Marylanders have not been compensated for their trials and tribulations. Enslaved Blacks helped produce tobacco, cotton, wheat, coal and iron. They built the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) and The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). They took care of the children of White slave owners, while their enslaved children toiled in the fields. Obviously, elected officials were some of the biggest culprits. Former Maryland Gov. Charles Caman Ridgely owned about 350 slaves at the time of his death.
Reparations are not a new concept–only when it comes to Black Marylanders. In Washington, D.C., slave owners were paid reparations for “lost property” once slaves were freed. This practice was also common in nearby states. Native Americans have received land and billions of dollars for various benefits and programs for being forcibly exiled from their native lands. At some point, the Germans who resisted fascism contributed with their taxpayer money to German reparation payments for the victims of the Holocaust (and to the cash stimulus that played an important role in establishing Israel). Japan was also made to pay reparations for war crimes committed in World War II, even those who found those crimes morally repugnant and did not commit any themselves. The U.S., in turn, paid reparations to the families of Japanese people incarcerated in internment camps, even though many protested the existence of these concentration camps.
Black Americans are the only group that has not received reparations for state-sanctioned racial discrimination, while slavery afforded some White families the ability to accrue tremendous wealth. Slavery was brutal, with 15 percent dying in transport. The enslaved that made it were forced to work, regularly beaten, lynched and raped. Slavery also disrupted families as one in three marriages were split up and one in five children were separated from their parents. The case for reparations can be made on economic, social and moral grounds. The federal government and states had multiple opportunities to atone for slavery—each a missed chance to make the American Dream a reality—but has yet to undertake significant action.
The Maryland Reparations Bill proposed the establishment of a commission to study the state’s involvement in slavery and systemic discrimination, and to assess ongoing disparities in housing, healthcare, education and criminal justice. The commission would be tasked with developing recommendations for reparative actions and equity-centered investments.
On May 16, Gov. Wes Moore announced his veto of this bill stating the following:
“In light of the many important studies that have taken place on this issue over nearly three decades, now is the time to focus on the work itself: Narrowing the racial wealth gap, expanding homeownership, uplifting entrepreneurs of color, and closing the foundational disparities that lead to inequality — from food insecurity to education.”
I am hopeful that the governor and Legislature will get on the same page and produce legislation that could repay the Black Marylanders who were victimized by state sponsored slavery and racism. The package is an effort to give restitution to Black Marylanders who have been harmed by centuries of racist policies and practices.
I believe the following should happen:
1. Individual payments for descendants of enslaved Black Marylanders
2. College tuition to four-year or two-year colleges and universities for descendants of enslaved Black Marylanders
3. Down payment grants and housing revitalization grants for descendants of enslaved Black Marylanders
`4. Business grants for start-ups, business expansion to hire more employees, or purchasing property for descendants of enslaved Black Marylanders
I implore Governor Moore and the legislature to move with urgency. Each point in the package and other solutions can be moved in the next legislative session. Let’s see if their audio matches up to their video.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the AFRO.