"In the United States, the idea of reparations has surfaced and disappeared numerous times. After the end of the Civil War, about 400,000 acres of land along the Florida, Georgia and South Carolina coasts was taken from former slave owners and set aside for freed slaves, who would each be granted a 40-acre plot of land to farm and make a living. It was the first attempt in the U.S. at reparations, and was reversed by President Andrew Johnson after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. Most recently in 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama said he did not support reparations for the descendants of slaves, which put him at odds with the NAACP, The Urban League, the SCLC and about two dozen members of Congress who sponsored legislation to create a commission on slavery. The House issued an apology for slavery in July 2008, and the Senate followed suit in 2009, but neither mentioned reparations. "
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 22:13:15 +0000
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