The controversial move to press for reparations appears poised to acclerate amid reports that the NAACP plans to press businesses for reparations and launch some boycotts.
One reason for this, the Washington Times story notes, is a recognition that the government will probably never get involved in the controversial campaign. Another fact: reparations so far seem to have come in the form of scholarships and education funds versus the common perception that it would involved mass payoffs to individuals. The Times reports:
MILWAUKEE — The NAACP will target private companies as part of its economic agenda, seeking reparations from corporations with historical ties to slavery and boycotting companies that refuse to participate in its annual business diversity report card.
“Absolutely, we will be pursuing reparations from companies that have historical ties to slavery and engaging all parties to come to the table,” Dennis C. Hayes, interim president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said yesterday at the group’s 96th annual convention here.
“Many of the problems we have now including poverty, disparities in health care and incarcerations can be directly tied to slavery.”
The group’s strategy will include a lobbying effort to encourage cities to enact laws requiring businesses to complete an extensive slavery study and submit it to the city before they can get a city contract.
It sounds as if this issue is about to hit “break out” status — which means if this campaign gathers steam the issue will become a major topic on talk shows, weblogs and probably even on the covers of news magazines. This all assumes a large number of instances where the NAACP actually gets corporations to participate. Just a few victories won’t shove the issue to the front burner.
But the controversy will likely grow more:
Such laws exist in Philadelphia and Chicago, which can refuse to grant contracts because of a company’s slavery ties although neither city has done this. Detroit and New Orleans are considering similar bills.
“We need legislation with teeth,” Adjoa Aiyetoro, professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s school of law, said during a session on reparations.
She said two banks trying to do business with Chicago have recently apologized for their role in slavery and promised to make amends by offering scholarships to blacks and money for other education projects that benefit blacks.
J.P. Morgan Chase Bank recently completed an examination of its history and found that two financial institutions it absorbed years ago — Citizens Bank and Canal Bank in Louisiana — had owned more than 1,250 black people until the Civil War, procured as collateral on defaulted loans.
The company apologized and officials said it will start a $5 million scholarship program for children in Louisiana.
Wachovia Corp. was accused by a Chicago alderman of lying last month when it submitted its statement in January stating it had no knowledge of any involvement with slavery. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company later apologized and indicated that it would create an education fund or contribute money toward black history education.
“They did the right thing in acknowledging it and taking the first step forward towards mutual understanding,” Mr. Hayes said.
And while private institutions are making slavery amends, NAACP Board Chairman Julian Bond said the federal government probably never will, citing the recent Senate resolution of apology for not passing anti-lynching bills, which eight senators did not sign.
PREDICTION: If there is an NAACP boycott to get businesses to participate, look for a boycott by a counter group (or two) to get businesses not to participate. Its a thorny issue that sparks enormous passions and this is polarized America.
When you look at what the NAACP is pressing for and the kinds of reparations achieved so far the questions become: will the general public get the interesting fact that reparations attained so far don’t fit the conventional concept of cash payments made out to invididuals but education and scholarship money earmaked for black children and youths? And will that actually matter given the overall debate over whether the concept of reparations is a valid one in America?
Stay tuned. We think you may hear some more…..
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.