New York state will create a commission tasked with considering reparations to address the persistent, harmful effects of slavery in the state, under a Bill signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday.
“In New York, we like to think we’re on the right side of this. Slavery was a product of the South, the Confederacy,” said Ms Hochul at the Bill-signing ceremony in New York City.
“What is hard to embrace is the fact that our state also flourished from that slavery. It’s not a beautiful story, but indeed it is the truth.”
Under the law, which was passed by state politicians in June, a study commission will examine the extent to which the federal and state government supported the institution of slavery.
It will also look at how New York engaged in the transfer of enslaved Africans.
New York fully abolished slavery by 1827, and much of New York City profited heavily off the slave industry.
The commission would be required to deliver a report a year after its first meeting. Its recommendations could potentially include monetary compensation but would be non-binding.
The new law is likely to draw some controversy, especially with the possibility of cash reparations. But the governor and other state politicians emphasised at the ceremony that the legislation would help open up conversations about what reparations could look like.
“This is not just about who we’re going to write a cheque to, and what the amount is,” said state assembly speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat. “It begins the conversation with one recognising the issues that affected black people and descendants of slaves in this state.”
California became the first state to form a reparations taskforce in 2020. That group estimated the state was responsible for more than 500 billion dollars (£392 billion) because of decades of over-policing, and moves that kept black families from receiving loans and living in certain neighborhoods.
Other states including Massachusetts and New Jersey have considered studying reparations, but none has yet passed legislation. A Chicago suburb in Evanston, Illinois, became the first city to make reparations available to black residents through a 10 million-dollar (£7.8 million) housing project in 2021.
The US Congress apologised to African-Americans for slavery in 2009, but a federal proposal to create a commission studying reparations has long stalled.
