All articles tagged with #reparations
Pete Buttigieg visits Florence and Orangeburg, SC to court Black voters for a potential 2028 bid, touting his federal infrastructure work, backing a reparations study, and urging Democrats to defend democracy amid redistricting debates.
Ghana is at the forefront of the global reparations debate for the transatlantic slave trade, pushing UN recognition, debt relief, and accountability from Western powers and institutions such as the Church of England, while advocating reparatory funding for education, entrepreneurship and health research, and promoting diaspora outreach — though critics warn against commercialising healing and say local needs must not be sidelined.
President Trump says the Strait of Hormuz is now open and under 100% U.S. control after claims the Navy cleared mines, while demanding Iran pay reparations; Iran counters that reopening hinges on lifting the blockade and sanctions. The standoff keeps oil markets nervous as prices edge higher amid sanctions and ongoing tensions in the region.
President Trump demanded that Iran compensate victims for casualties and damages from decades of conflict, tying the claim to stalled negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz; he later broadened the demand to include victims in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Gaza, while Israel's Netanyahu publicly rejected a US-backed Gaza peace plan and talks in the region remain deadlocked ahead of the midterm elections.
US President Donald Trump said he would demand conflict compensation from Iran as part of any peace negotiations, including damages from the current war and Iranian attacks on US targets dating back decades, and even payments to families of Iranian protesters killed by authorities; he also urged Iran to be responsible for damage and deaths in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Gaza, as negotiations to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz stall amid Tehran's sanctions-relief demands.
On a visit to Cape Coast Castle, Archbishop Dame Sarah Mullally renewed the Church of England's commitment to a £100m reparations fund tied to its historic role in the transatlantic slave trade, noting that repentance must translate into action through investment, research and community engagement in affected areas. She described the castle’s dungeons and the “door of no return” as stark reminders of the past. The plan has faced opposition over historical accuracy, legal concerns and ideological objections, but Ghana’s foreign minister praised the move as a signal of accountability for the church’s legacy.
Caricom’s Reparations Commission is urging the UK to return the British Virgin Islands and asking King Charles to back decolonising Britain’s remaining overseas territories, warning that without action there could be a resurgence of colonisation. The group ties reparations to sovereignty and self-determination, criticises governance by UK-appointed governors, and rolls out a new manifesto to advance the reparations and decolonisation agenda while seeking broader ties with Africa and African Americans.
Outgoing Texas Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett told the Essence Festival that ‘America owes Black women everything,’ arguing Black women have long borne the labor and backbone of democracy even as they face targeting; the remarks drew sharp online backlash over the Fourth of July weekend, amid broader talk of reparations and racial justice, as Crockett’s political profile looms after losing a Senate bid and facing redistricting that reshaped her district.
At a three-day Accra conference, African and Caribbean leaders called for full, unconditional apologies and support for a 19-point plan to establish a global reparations fund, debt relief, and restitution of looted cultural property, building on a UN resolution that labeled the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity. The gathering highlighted 12-15 million Africans trafficked to the Americas; Macron urged reparations beyond cash, while the UK and US cautioned against creating a legal right to reparations, noting the UN vote is non-binding.
Barbados PM Mia Mottley announced an updated Caricom reparations manifesto at a Ghana conference, urging monetary compensation and other redress from former colonial powers for slavery’s harms, including gender-based violence; the plan ties reparations to climate justice and Indigenous rights, seeks a formal apology and education initiatives, and awaits endorsement by Caribbean governments, while stressing that crimes against humanity are not subject to statute of limitations.
The U.S. Department of Justice has joined a lawsuit seeking to halt Evanston, Illinois’ groundbreaking reparations program for Black residents and their descendants, arguing that distributing funds based on race violates equal protection. Evanston defends the program as a targeted remedy for past housing discrimination, offering up to $25,000 to those affected between 1919 and 1969 (with eligibility for later discrimination if proven) and funded by local cannabis taxes; about $6.3 million had been disbursed to hundreds of applicants as of last year. Critics say the plan is narrow in scope and questions remain about directing benefits to institutions that once discriminated against Black homeowners.
The Justice Department joined a lawsuit opposing Evanston, Illinois’s reparations program, arguing that awarding benefits based on race—designed to compensate Black residents for housing discrimination—violates the Equal Protection Clause and the Fair Housing Act. Evanston has distributed about $5 million in cash grants and housing assistance to 212 applicants, with eligibility limited to descendants of Black residents or people who experienced housing discrimination after 1969. The DOJ’s move, part of broader Republican concerns about race-conscious policies, frames the program as race discrimination rather than restorative policy.
The federal government filed a federal lawsuit seeking an injunction to halt Evanston, Illinois’s reparations program—the first of its kind in the United States—arguing the local plan to compensate Black residents for historic discrimination is unlawful or unauthorized, a move that could affect future reparations efforts.
At a New York reparations hearing, activists urged cash compensation for Black residents, with some callers demanding $800,000 per person; the NY State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies is weighing eligibility criteria— including lineage-based approaches—alongside broader remedies as Hochul's 2023 legislation spurs the study of slavery's legacy.
France's National Assembly unanimously repealed the 1685 Code Noir, which treated enslaved people as property, in a rare bipartisanship move that ends a legal remnant of slavery; Macron said reparations should be considered but warned against false promises, and the debate underscored enduring inequalities in France's overseas territories tied to its colonial past.