HR 40
The text of H.R.40 references educational disparities in explaining why a commission to study the persistent harms of slavery is necessary. It describes economic and educational hardships suffered by Black Americans since 1865 as “debilitating” and notes that differences in educational funding have perpetuated this inequality.
Furthermore, it calls for the proposed commission to study how slavery directly benefited certain “societal institutions, both public and private, including higher education” and the ways in which contemporary “instructional resources” are used “to deny the inhumanity of slavery and the crime against humanity of people of African descent.”
HR 40 Resources
The Case for Reparations
Coates, T. N. (2014). The case for reparations. The Atlantic, 313(5), 54-71.
Reparations Now Toolkit
Movement for Black Lives, Reparations Now Toolkit
From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the twenty-first century.
Darity Jr, W. A., & Mullen, A. K. (2020). From here to equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the twenty-first century. UNC Press Books.
Podcast: What is Owed
Housing Discrimination and Reparations
Should the US Pay Reparations for Slavery?
On April 27, 2020, the Brookings Policy 2020 initiative and the Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary policy hosted an online discussion with William “Sandy” Darity and Kirsten Mullen on their book, “From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century”
At 1:04 in the recording, the authors addressed a question: “I’m interested in the responsibility of institutions of higher education for reparations. Institutions like Brown and Georgetown have begun to acknowledge their slave past, with some discussion, if not action, on redress. States like Florida have provided scholarships to HE as redress for the Rosewood massacre. What insights do you have as to how College and Universities should enact reparations? What could it look like in practice?” This is where they talk about the need for a national response and the role HE could play on creating coalitions behind HR 40. This is also discussed in the last chapter in their book.
Project H.E.R.E. (Higher Education Reparations Engagement) 