Burlington’s Reparations Resolution was co-created with the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance, and is the next step in their Operation Phoenix R.I.S.E work which galvanized support for Burlington’s Racial Justice Resolution passed in June. The new Reparations Resolution was informed by H.R. 40, a Congressional bill to establish the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans. H.R. 40 states “the commission shall examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies. Among other requirements, the commission shall identify (1) the role of federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery, (2) forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed slaves and their descendants, and (3) lingering negative effects of slavery on living African-Americans and society.”
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