Calls for Reparations Study and Tribunal Gain Momentum in U.S. and UN

New York legislators plan to pass a bill creating a commission to study the history of slavery and racial discrimination in the state and recommend possible reparation payments. The commission would examine the lingering negative effects of slavery and discrimination on living people of African descent, as well as topics such as mass incarceration and housing discrimination. The panel would recommend appropriate remedies and reparations in a report to the state Legislature, but its recommendations would not be binding and would eventually need to be approved by the Legislature in a future year.