How do you "address the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery in the United States"? You form a commission, of course.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D–Texas), along with 23 of her colleagues, has introduced H.R. 40, a bill to form a commission to study reparations for slavery. The commission would be comprised of 13 members and an unlimited number of support staff, experts, consultants, and contractors. Their purpose would be to document the evils of slavery and discrimination, then recommend appropriate remedies, including paying money to the descendants of slaves. The commission would have one year to prepare their report and present it to Congress.
Reparations have been supported by multiple Democratic presidential candidates and religious leaders. Last week, Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, the Episcopal bishop of Maryland, urged Congress to pass HR 40. Sutton, perhaps himself a candidate for the commission, claimed to represent the perspective of the faith community in favor of reparations. After all, reparations have unanimous support from his diocese, which is 90 percent white.
