The Michigan Legislative Black Caucus is calling for the passage of new “reparative justice” bills.
The package would create a state office to serve American descendants of slavery, launch a reparations commission, and create new data collection subcategories to differentiate between Black descendants of slavery, those who are not, and those whose heritage is unknown.
State Representative Jason Hoskins (D-Southfield) said Black Michiganders continue to live with the legacy of slavery and segregation.
“If we are serious about addressing these challenges, we must first understand the harms that were done, the policies that perpetuated these harms, who’s affected, and what remedies are appropriate,” Hoskins said during a press conference Thursday.
State data has shown Black Michiganders often trail their white neighbors when it comes to household income, poverty rates, and health.
Rep. Donovan McKinney (D-Detroit) said Michigan hasn’t ever fully studied the causes of that, like housing discrimination or urban renewal programs that tore down prospering Black neighborhoods.
“Put emotions aside, put the culture wars aside, this is about honoring and recognizing the harms that have happened years prior to now,” McKinney said.
McKinney’s bill would create the reparations commission. He and others at the press conference stressed the bill itself would not create reparations payments, or any other policy recommendations. Instead, it would leave that job to the results of the commission’s study.
Last year, a reparations taskforce in the City of Detroit released its own findings. Recommendations included housing and business grants, building new affordable housing units, and a pause on water shutoffs.
When asked for a comment on the House Democrats’ package Thursday, Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) said he hadn’t seen the bills to fully weigh in beyond that he’d look at them. Hall did say, however, that he opposed reparations payments out of concerns for where the money would come from.
The bills were sent to the House Committee on Government Operations, a committee known for being a “graveyard” for most legislation assigned to it.
State Representative Brenda Carter (D-Pontiac), a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority whose members advocated for the legislation, said the push for the package wouldn’t stop this session if it doesn’t go through.
She said many of Michigan’s communities have had state commissions and offices created to work with them.
“Descendants of individuals emancipated in slavery in the United State also deserve dedicated offices to coordinate resources, conduct research, preserve history, and advise policymakers,” Carter said.
