History of the Movement

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Forty Acres and a Mule

Following the end of the Civil War in 1865, General William Sherman issued an order granting each former slave family in Georgia 40 acres of land outside of Charleston, asking the Union army to help them by loaning mules. About 40,000 former slaves took advantage of the offer, which was then expanded to other areas until President Andrew Johnson rescinded the order. Most of the land was then returned to its previous white Confederate owners -- some of whom were even compensated for their loss of "property" when their slaves were freed. Former slaves never received their "forty acres and a mule" and reparations for slavery still have not been paid to the African American community.

The Cost of Oppression

The vast wealth of the United States, most of which resides in the hands of white men, was obtained through the systematic exploitation of black people both during and following the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Under slavery, Southern landowners benefited from the free, unregulated labor of slaves, while in New England, raw goods obtained through slave labor paved the way for the Industrial Revolution and the rise of profitable manufacturing jobs. Even where slavery was illegal, like in many of the Northern states, blacks suffered ongoing discrimination that prevented them from owning the best land, holding high-paying jobs, or competing economically with whites.

The end of slavery did not bring with it an end to the economic oppression of blacks. Segregation and Jim Crow laws kept black Americans working low-end jobs and paying taxes to finance institutions – like public schools – that they could not share with whites. Their underpaid labor became the foundation for the success of white-owned businesses and for the maintenance of the white power structure. Even following the Civil Rights Movement and the end of segregation, blacks remained at a clear economic disadvantage, suffering higher unemployment rates than whites and earning less money at the jobs they did obtain. This trend continues to the present day when black men earn, on average, 78 cents for every dollar white men earn. For black women, it is 65 cents.

What does all this mean? Simply that the wealth that white America now experiences is derived in significant proportions from the historic and continued oppression of black people, on a concrete, material level. The continued power and wealth of white people depends upon the continued exploitation of black people.

Beyond Economics

Of course, the case for reparations is not based solely upon economics. The slave trade and its aftermath wrecked physical, psychological, and economic trauma on blacks to the degree that it was declared a Crime Against Humanity by the United Nations in 2001. Physical abuse, rape, murder, estrangement from family members, forced illiteracy, and constant threats were only some of the conditions slaves experienced. Even after the end of slavery, abuse and oppression of blacks continued with lynchings, race riots, injustice, segregation, and police brutality, among other issues. The legacy of slavery will persist so long as the perpetrators of the crime – white America – go unpunished. Jews received reparations for the Holocaust, Japanese-Americans received reparations for the interment camps during World War II, but black people still have not received any money for the atrocity that was slavery.

Intellectual Theft

Some of the thievery perpetrated against black people goes beyond both physical and economic concerns, like the perversion and theft of black culture and black intellectual genius. We will probably never know the degree to which ideas and inventions were originally developed by blacks only to be stolen by whites and passed off as their own. The intellectual and cultural advancements black people did make, still often go unrecognized by mainstream society – as exemplified by a campaign by Miller Brewing Company in 2004 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the birth of rock and roll. They calculated the 50 years by starting with the first time Elvis Presley recorded music in the Sun Studios in 1954. Despite easily-accessible information that Elvis Presley learned his technique and even some of his songs from a black man, Otis Blackwell, white-dominated society continues to perpetuate the myth that rock and roll originated with whites. How many other examples of white cultural encroachment must exist? Demand reparations for the reclamation of black cultural and intellectual property!

The December 12th Movement

The December 12th Movement International Secritariat is an NGO with consultative status at the United Nations that has participated in the Commission on Human Rights since 1989. Their goal is to take up what they see as Malcolm X's legacy: to bring the United States before a world court to be judged on the issue of slavery and continued violation of black people's human rights. In their participation in the Human Rights Commission, they have repeatedly condemned the United States and attempted to make the world aware of the conditions black people suffer in the United States -- and to connect those conditions to those that people of African descent face worldwide.

In 2001, the UN held the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa. At this conference, the December 12th Movement brought the single largest delegation, of over 400 people. Along with other progressive groups around the world, they tried to emphasize the economic basis of racism and slavery, thereby making clear that any resolution of these issues must be at least partially economic. They succeeded in getting the trans-Atlantic slave trade labeled a "Crime Against Humanity" by the United Nations, thus getting official recognition of the magnitude of the slave trade and forming the foundation for the claim that people must be held accountable. This was a victory predominantly in terms of public opinion: it made clear that there is a legitimate right for African people to be compensated with reparations for slavery.

Though there had been a long history of struggles for reparations, this was one of the first times that the question of criminality and crimes against humanity had entered into the equation. Further, crimes against humanity have no time limit, thus invalidating the claim that the slave trade occurred too long ago to hold anyone accountable. Returning to the US from that conference, the December 12th Movement and other progressive groups in the US called for a national rally for reparations in the US -- in order to raise awareness about the issue and make clear that reparations is a legitimate demand by African people for a crime that occurred. Out of this came the umbrella organization, Millions for Reparations, and a national conference in Washington, DC, in 2002.

The official United States delegation to the UN World Conference Against Racism walked out, refusing to hear their own actions in the slave trade described as a crime against humanity and universally condemned. They claimed that they left over controversies related to the Israel-Palestine issue and this is the impression that was propogated by the US media.

So... What Does All This Mean?

• A crime was committed against black people on the part of white people that has never been punished or acknowledged
• White economic dominance is built upon black oppression
• Black culture, politics, and concerns still take a backseat in the United States. Still today, only one US Senator is African American
• Black cultural and intellectual property is still being co-opted and claimed by whites
• The economic system in the United States is inherently unequal and provides no adaquate means to erase the gap between the races
• Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity are too limited to undo nearly 400 years of institutionalized oppression, racism, and segregation
• Reparations money could be used to rejuvinate black communities, provide funds for black social services, education, and opportunities for youth
• A massive redistribution of the wealth in the United States would benefit poor and middle class communities as well, including immigrant families and even poor whites
• There is no other way to achieve justice

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