HR40 & Reparations

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Image on the cover of HR40 & Reparations Tool Kit by the ACLU.

Excerpt from the Tool Kit:
HR 40: WHAT IS IT, AND HOW DO WE PASS IT?

H.R. 40 is a Congressional bill that seeks to explore reparations for slavery and address how
slavery and its legacy have deeply harmed generations of Black people in America.
The bill’s number refers to “40 acres and a mule” — a false promise of property and opportunity
to Black people after the end of slavery in 1865. Instead of a land remedy to gain equal footing,
Black people were subjected to oppressive Jim Crow laws and racial terror across the nation,
forcing millions of families to endure government-sanctioned social and economic
discrimination.

H.R. 40 was first introduced in Congress in 1989. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (TX)
re-introduced it as the “Commission to Study and Develop reparations Proposals for
African Americans Act,” in 2019, noting that in the 30 years since it was first introduced, more
than enough evidence had been brought to warrant a commission. Today, the bill has gathered
support and has over 200 co-sponsors and has its greatest chance of passing.

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The ACLU

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Image on the cover of the ACLU HR40 & Reparations Tool Kit

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Image

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