NYCLU, LDF Release New Report Calling for Reparations Now in New York

As State Commission Considers Reparations, Experts Analyze Legacy of Slavery in New York and Ongoing Harm Against Black New Yorkers
Read the full report here.

NEW YORK - Today, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) and the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) issued The Other New York: The Legacy of Slavery and the Case for Reparations Now, a report analyzing the impacts of slavery and its legacy of discrimination against Black New Yorkers. The NYCLU and LDF are calling for immediate reparations in light of the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies' anticipated recommendations to the governor and legislature.

At the height of slavery in New York, approximately 20,000 New Yorkers owned Black people. The report determines that the harms of slavery and its persistent impacts still shape the lives of Black New Yorkers today, including in discriminatory housing policies, environmental racism and redlining, police violence and mass incarceration, chronically underfunded and segregated schools, and voter suppression. Specifically, the report found:

• The median wealth of Black New Yorkers is $18,870, nearly 15 times less than the median wealth of white New Yorkers, which is $276,900, and New York state has a wider racial wealth gap than the United States as a whole.
• The history of housing in New York reveals a deliberate and systemic effort to exclude and displace Black communities, denying them the stability and generational wealth that homeownership provides.
• Nearly 90 years after redlining and urban renewal, formerly redlined communities remain some of the highest poverty neighborhoods in New York.
• Zoning laws reinforced the racial hierarchy established under slavery, forcing Black people to live in industrial areas with increased pollution - leading to disproportionately high asthma, cardiovascular disease, premature delivery, and premature death.
• Schools serving predominantly Black students have been severely underfunded and disproportionately affected by environmental hazards, crumbling infrastructure, and lead poisoning.

"Reparations are a debt that is owed. Enslaved Black people built the foundation of New York's economy, but Black families in our state still face racism that has been codified into our laws and budgets," said Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Director of the Racial Justice Center at the NYCLU. "New York state was not a bystander to slavery - it created, enacted, and protected the institution of slavery. Reparations must be extended to all Black New Yorkers descended from those enslaved by New York state, and to all Black New Yorkers still living under the systems slavery built."

"Creating policy for the future does not mean that we can forget about the past - it's time for New York to embrace its history instead of running from what some feel are uncomfortable conversations," said Todd A. Cox, Associate Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund. "New York was a willing participant in the most degrading, dehumanizing, and despicable economic enterprise of slavery. And Black New Yorkers are still facing extreme economic hardship because of that system. Reparations are an unequivocally necessary step toward redressing the many discriminatory systems that have thrived as a result of the structural remnants of the slave trade."

"The legacy of slavery in New York didn't end when slavery was outlawed in 1827. Black New Yorkers still face systemic racism in housing, education, healthcare, and our criminal legal system. Across New York, Black communities experience more pollution, more police violence, more incarceration, and more barriers to accumulating intergenerational wealth," said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the NYCLU. "From the destruction of the thriving Black Seneca Village community on Manhattan's Upper West Side to make way for Central Park to the so-called urban renewal highways of 1960s and 70s, the systemic displacement and undermining of Black communities, homeownership, and businesses is quite literally a part of New York's DNA. Our report demands that lawmakers finally provide reparations to repair the harm that still exists today. Black New Yorkers deserve more than another study. They deserve reparations now."

"The legacy of slavery continues to shape economic disparities and myriad other social issues for Black communities across the United States," said David Wheaton, Assistant Policy Counsel at the Legal Defense Fund. "These include enduring racial wealth gaps, systemic barriers to economic mobility, and unequal access to housing, education, and financial resources to name a few. In New York state especially, it is clear that higher rates of poverty, lower life expectancies, and a lack of investment in infrastructure in Black communities are all urgent and relevant justifications for reparative solutions."

In December 2023, New York passed legislation establishing the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies, charging it with examining the legacy of slavery, the long history of discrimination against people of African descent, and how these harms continue to shape life for Black New Yorkers. The commission is required to issue its recommendations in a report to the governor and legislature by 2029

The Other New York: The Legacy of Slavery and the Case for Reparations Now was authored by Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Chantelle Williams, Camara Hudson, David Wheaton, and Martin Harris.

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