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American Morning
Should the United States Make Reparations for Slavery?
Aired June 15, 2001 - 09:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In just a few days, African-American communities will celebrate a holiday that's not widely known all around the country. It's a celebration of freedom.
For more on the so-called Juneteenth celebration and what some lawmakers are doing to mark the occasion, we turn now to CNN's Jeanne Meserve, as always, in our Washington bureau.
Hello, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles
This weekend kicks off the Juneteenth celebrations in some communities, but the holiday, as you mentioned, is still unfamiliar to many Americans.
Some background: President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves in 1863 when the Civil War was still in progress and much slave-holding territory was still controlled by the Confederates . Slaves in Texas and surrounding areas didn't get the news they were free until a year-and-a-half later on June 19, 1865. That date has been the basis for Juneteenth celebrations ever since.
The aftereffects of slavery continue to be discussed and there is a current debate over whether descendants of slaves should receive reparations. Walter E. Williams of George Mason University is against payments. Quote -- "If the government got the money from the tooth fairy or Santa Clause, that would be great, but the government has to take the money from citizens and there are no citizens alive today who were responsible for slavery. The problems that black people face are not going to be solved by white people and they are not going to be solved by money."
Congressman John Conyers of Michigan disagrees.
REP. JOHN CONYERS (D), MICHIGAN: We're not asking white people to pay. We're asking for a study of reparations that will determine what, if anything, should be done if they are found to be due. So this isn't a matter of some particular race paying for reparations.
MESERVE: Why do you believe reparations are needed?
CONYERS: Well, I believe the study is needed, first of all. Congress has never had a study on the question of reparations. The Freedmen's Bureau, a couple of hundred years ago, made a slight effort at this but 40 acres and a mule. But we've never studied the question and that's really all I'm advancing at this point.
MESERVE: Is it your belief that every African-American today suffers from the aftereffects of slavery?
CONYERS: Just about, yes.
MESERVE: How so?
CONYERS: How so?
MESERVE: Yes.
CONYERS: Well, this gets us into a discussion of whether or not the experience of enslavement in this country has present day effects, and I say that it - they absolutely do. That's why the statistics that involve African-Americans and others of color are the way they are. The way black people live, die and everything else in between is -- has been affected by this awful period of enslavement, not only in America, but it was actually global.
MESERVE: In the 2:00 hour, David Horowitz on why he thinks reparations are a bad idea, and next hour, Congressman J.C. Watts on a proposed museum of African-American history on the National Mall.
Miles, now back to you.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Jeanne. That's Jeanne Meserve in Washington.
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