For more than 200 years, American industries, even universities, used slaves. Over that time, some 300,000 slaves who could be bought, sold, deeded and gifted, were forced into labor. And it wasn’t that long ago, ending in the late 1800s.
As slavery is held as the basis for systemic inequalities that remain in this country — in our criminal justice system, housing and education — a reparations movement is once again gaining steam.
In 2021, Congresswoman Dina Titus and Congressman Steven Horsford signed on as co-sponsors of a bill to study reparations. And in California, a reparations task force just completed a report for state lawmakers.
Of course, there’s disagreement over what to do, or if anything should be done. A 2021 Pew Research survey found 75% of Black Americans support reparations; for Hispanics it was 40%, and 33% for Asians.
In the U.S. as a whole, two-thirds of the population oppose them and only 18% of white people support them.
Guests: Darryl Fortson, executive director, African American Slave Reparations Team Nevada; Shamann Walton, member, San Francisco, California Board of Supervisors, District 10; Claytee White, director, Oral Histories Project, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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