June 19 is a day
as synonymous with freedom as any day could possibly be.
It's the day the last enslaved people in the United
States learned they were free, nearly two years after
President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation,
and two months after the end of the U.S. Civil War.
In a country that prides itself on valuing
freedom above almost anything else, June 19 is a
representation of just how sacred such liberation
is. Sign the petition to
demand that U.S. lawmakers honor the end of slavery by
voting for reparations!
The people who
were enslaved in the U.S. were forced into expending
their labor and lives to create the very foundations of
our country and society. Without compensation,
without consent, and under the constant pressures of
violence and bondage, these individuals
constructed our hallowed halls, our economy, and even
our global industrial might. In exchange for all this,
the U.S. has chosen to defund African-American
communities and target them for violence. For
generations, the descendants of enslaved persons have
continued to endure devastating poverty and
inequality, continued segregation, subpar educational
opportunities, and soaring levels of
incarceration. This is largely due to the
continuing legacy of slavery — which we have never
attempted to economically rectify.
The
U.S. government has dragged its feet for more than 150
years, refusing to address the issue of economic
compensation for the people who literally built this
country. We can not go back in time and undo
the evils we created then. But we can compensate the
descendants of enslaved people today. Sign the petition to
demand Congress vote to create a system for reparations
now!
