RESTORATIVE JUSTICE MATTERS
Why Hate Groups Keep Lying to People about Reparations for Slavery
Separating fact from fiction on the movement for reparations
The movement for reparations has been co-opted by some groups spreading hateful rhetoric about immigrants online. Clearly, descendants of American slavery deserve to have their case adjudicated and receive restorative justice for "slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present.” However, fermenting hatred for immigrants, discouraging people from voting, and spreading misinformation will not help Black Americans get across the finish line. Remember, we have the truth and mountains of evidence on our side — the only thing Black Americans are missing is the will of the public to fulfill a commitment made at the end of the Civil War.
I'm not sure who needs to hear this but threatening to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on immigrants goes against civil rights leaders' teachings — it's giving white supremacist energy. "Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial 'outside agitator' idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds," Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in 1963 as he sat in a…
