Fort Worth City Council asks Congress to study Reparations

May 19, 2004 Tron Nick

Originally published in the Dallas Fort Worth Star Telegram [here]

A divided City Council called on Congress on Tuesday to study the effects of slavery and discrimination, and whether governmental reparations are needed. Proponents who have been trying to build a national movement for reparations said the move will pressure other cities to adopt similar resolutions. Opponents said it amounted to dwelling on the past. "It's a great first step," said Bryan Muhammad, executive director of the National POWER Organization (People Organized Working for Equal Rights, Respect and Reparations), after the 6-3 vote.

"Now the dialogue can begin."

Thomas Muhammad, founder of Africans & African Americans for Enslavement Reparations of Dallas, said he hopes Fort Worth's vote will lead to a decision in Houston, where a similar resolution has stalled. Resolutions have been approved in Dallas, Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cleveland and Chicago.

Councilman Clyde Picht, who voted against the resolution with Councilwoman Becky Haskin and Councilman Chuck Silcox, said the city should focus on its future rather than "dredging up the past."

"I just don't think this is the answer," he said.

Haskin said people recognize the horrors of slavery.

"I truly think it's a waste of time to ask Congress to do a study," she said.

The resolution calls on Congress to pass a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., that has been introduced every year since 1989. The bill would create a commission to study the effects of slavery and the era of institutional discrimination that followed the Civil War, the effects of slavery on African-Americans today and the case for "appropriate reparations."

Councilman Ralph McCloud, who pushed for the resolution along with Councilman Frank Moss, said the legislation's goal is understanding.

Reparations could be something as simple as an apology, McCloud said.

"There's nothing to be lost by gaining an understanding of who we are," he said.

The Rev. Michael Bell said the issue should be discussed.

"To say the only