Creation of Commission to Study and Recommend the Appropriate Remedies for the Descendants of African American Slaves

WHEREAS, on December 9, 2015 President Barack Obama in commemorating the 150th anniversary of the abolishment of slavery and involuntary servitude stated, "We would do a disservice to those warriors of justice, Tubman and Douglas, and Lincoln and King, were we to deny that the scars of our nation's original sin are still with us today"; and

WHEREAS, in 2008 the United States Congress passed a resolution apologizing for slavery in America. The resolution stated, "Slavery in America resembled no other form of involuntary servitude known in history ..." The resolution also highlighted, "It is important for this country, which legally recognized slavery through its Constitution and its laws, to make a formal apology for slavery and for its successor, Jim Crow, so that it can move forward and seek reconciliation, justice, and harmony for all of its citizens." However, no remedy was offered or recommended to right a wrong for our nation's original sin; and

WHEREAS, in 2009 the United States Senate passed a resolution apologizing for slavery. The Senate acknowledged in the resolution "the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery" and apologized "to African Americans, on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery." However, no remedy was offered or recommended to right a wrong for our nation's original sin; and

WHEREAS, on January 13, 2013 United States Representative John Conyers, Jr. introduced H.R.40 entitled, "Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act." The Commission is designed to study and examine "the institution of slavery, subsequently de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African-Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes." However, based upon political projections, H.R. 40 has a 1% chance of passing in Congress. Thus, denying a congressional action to right a wrong for our nation's original sin; and

WHEREAS, in 2016, the United Nations (UN) working group (Experts on People of African Descent) recommended that the United States give long overdue reparations to descendants of slaves. The UN working group also suggested the United States establish a national human rights commission and publicly acknowledge that the Transatlantic Slave Trade was a crime against humanity.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the NAACP calls upon the President of the United States of America create an executive order to establish a President Advisory Council Commission to study and recommend the appropriate remedies for the descendants of African American slaves.