TAKE ACTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

URGE CONGRESS TO ADDRESS THE LEGACY OF CHATTEL SLAVERY

The institution of chattel slavery has deep roots within the United States and continues to cast an ugly shadow over progress and equality. Years of systemic racism, discriminatory legislation, and violence have created stark contrasts in quality of living, health care, income, and access to education.

There is a bill in Congress called H.R. 40 / S. 40 that, if passed, would create a commission to investigate the legacy of chattel slavery and its ongoing harms, and develop reparations proposals for Black Americans in the U.S.

Representative Cori Bush (MO-1) also sponsors House resolution (H.Res. 414) to formally acknowledge the federal government’s responsibility to provide reparations in all forms and would support existing reparations legislation including H.R. 40 / S. 40.

We can wait no longer: tell your elected leaders to support H.R. 40 / S. 40 and the Reparations Now! House Resolution, and pave the way for healing.

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As your constituent I am writing to encourage you to co-sponsor and pass H.R. 40 /S. 40 and the Reparations Now! Resolution. These pieces of legislation would address the injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of chattel slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865, acknowledge the federal government’s responsibility in providing reparations, and establish a commission to study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of chattel slavery.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave “Trade” and chattel slavery is a crime against humanity that formally ended in 1865. However, it was followed by more than 100 years of government-led and government-supported denial of equal and humane treatment including, but certainly not limited to, the Black Codes, convict leasing, sharecropping, peonage, redlining, mass incarceration, and Jim Crow practices of segregated  and unequal accommodations.

Years of racial inequality, discriminatory legislation, and violence have created stark contrasts in quality of living, health care, economic opportunity, and access to education. Black lives continue to be deemed systemically and institutionally unimportant and inferior while human rights violations persist in increasingly modern ways, such as law enforcement’s use of technology against Black individuals and digital redlining.

Therefore, I as your constituent request your support for H.R. 40 / S. 40, which was originally introduced in 1989 and, after 35 years, should finally pass. And I request your support for the Reparations Now! Resolution, which would formally acknowledge the federal government’s responsibility in providing reparations and support H.R. 40 / S. 40. Both are essential first steps in moving the United States out of this inhumane, centuries-lasting chapter towards a society that prioritizes human rights. While we can never fully heal from this trauma as a nation, it is important that you acknowledge the deep wounds of chattel slavery and anti-Black racism and take steps to make us a better nation with dignity and humanity.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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