BOSTON REPARATIONS LEADER SAYS PATHWAY TO JUSTICE IS THROUGH ‘APOLOGY’
A prominent Boston reparations leader says she is ready to push toward fighting for Blacks harmed through the city’s ties to the slave trade but an “apology must come first.”
Aziza Robinson Goodnight is applauding the progress the Boston City Council is making at calling for reparations in Boston were called for by the New Democracy Coalition in 2020, but she says its important for the city to apologize for its complicity in the slave trade first.
“I am elated that we have come to this point in the process since the New Democracy Coalition made the call for reparations 2 years ago,” said Robinson Goodnight. “But we as a city must make sure the city takes full responsibility for the moral wrongs that it committed against Black people in Boston. We must take those steps first and then move into the dialogue about reparations.”
Boston’s involvement in the trans-atlantic slave trade started well before the United States was founded as a nation. According to historians, the first enslaved Blacks were brought into the city in 1638, as they disembarked from a trading ship from Africa named Desire. Since then Boston became the major port in New England through which slaves were sold into the city for their free labor.
“Labor was stolen from Black people whose efforts set the economic foundations for Boston. Blacks in Boston were deprived of the fruits of their work by Whites who considered enslaved Africans in Boston as human property,” Robinson Goodnight continued. “This is the orignal sin of the city of Boston. It failed to recognize Africans as real people. It created an economic, social and political environment where it was acceptable for people to own and exploit other people. That’s an unforgivable crime against Blacks, but an apology must be given.”
“But we as a city must go through a process where the city takes responsibility for the moral wrongs that it committed against Black people in Boston. We must take those steps first and then move into the dialogue about reparations.” — Activist Aziza Robinson Goodnight
Currently Boston city leaders are organizing a spring hearing where they will decide upon creating a commission to look at the role that slavery has played in oppressing Blacks in Boston which would consider forms of addressing past harms. City Council members hope the commission will explore mechanisms city of Boston can use to repay Blacks for past wrongs. The effort is led by City Councillors Julia Mejia and Kenzie Bok.
“It is nonsense that we think that we can repay for the evil perpetuated aginst Blacks in the city. The cannot be done. What we are talking about is creating the best conditions that we can construct so that a proper dialogue is created so that the city government understands the role its played in fostering the slave trade and misery among Blacks that exist in 2022,” said Robinson Goodnight.
The New Democracy Coalition in January sent a draft resolution to Boston City Council members. The coalition hopes the 13-member council will use the document as a role map toward crafting an apology they will soon vote on before the reparation hearings begin in March.
Other cities exploring reparation to Blacks adopted resolution of apology as the first step in their process, including Asheville, North Carolina and Evanston, Illinois. Residents in those municipalities concluded that contrition for past wrongs was the best starting point before discussing reparations.
“I am optimistic that we can move through a reparations process in Boston that points toward justice, but that can happen without this process of apologizing, it sets the conditions for the entire process,” concluded Robinson Goodnight.
