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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Boston City Council has given the green-light for a task force to study reparations for the city's involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The ordinance, which still has to be approved by the mayor, splits the commission's tasks into three phases that last until October 2024.
The commission was unanimously approved by the City Council on Wednesday, to applause from the crowd.
If passed, the commission will spend much of its time delving into the history of Boston's involvement in slavery, and what steps — if any — have been taken to pay back the Black community here. From there, the task force would narrow down what Boston needs to do to repair the harm done.
The commission ordinance makes no mention of financial compensation for the community.
The idea of reparations in Massachusetts was first formally brought up in 1988 by State Senator Bill Owens, the state's first Black State Senator. He called for a statewide commission to look at the issue.
The task force will be made up of at least five people appointed by the mayor, including "community organizers, research and policy experts, community elders (defined as persons 60 years and older), a youth voice, historians or persons with historical expertise, and academics," according to the ordinance.
The first draft of the legislation provided commission members payment of $100 an hour, up to $50,000 a year — that was changed to allow Mayor Wu to decide what they'd be paid.
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