Free Republic

Tennessee is divided over reparations, with a black Memphis pastor leading the charge against a bill that would prohibit the funding of a proposed reparations study in the state. Rev. Earle Fisher, the senior pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church, has garnered more than 1,100 signatures for his petition against the “reprehensible legislation” introduced to the state legislature to prohibit local governments from “engaging in the vital work of studying or disbursing reparations.” The commissioners of Shelby County — which includes Memphis — voted last year to launch a “feasibility study to examine reparations for the descendants of slaves,” the Daily...

Across eastern Libya, rebel fighters and their supporters are detaining, intimidating and frequently beating African immigrants and black Libyans, accusing them of fighting as mercenaries on behalf of Kadafi, witnesses and human rights workers say. In a few instances, rebels have executed suspected mercenaries captured in battle, according to Human Rights Watch and local Libyans. The rebel-led provisional government in Benghazi denies mistreating suspected mercenaries, though it acknowledges that it is detaining some for questioning. It says it has given human rights representatives access to detainees. But rebel fighters and bands of gunmen who looted government weapons depots are reportedly...

People are not satisfied with the San Francisco city government’s progress in providing reparations to descendants of African Americans who have suffered historical discrimination, according to a new report. Although a city government panel proposed monetary reparations for eligible Black residents last year – with some potentially receiving $5 million, "So far, all they’ve received is an apology," The Washington Post reported. The Post detailed how the city has had to cut funding for the project, and that people are growing frustrated over the lack of progress on reparations. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors put out an official apology...

Shocking video captured the moment a Brooklyn school bus aide was sucker-punched as she was walking down a street — knocking out her teeth and leaving her with a broken jaw that had to be wired shut. Dulche Pichardo, 57, said she was commuting home from work at about 5 p.m. Tuesday when a stranger took a swing at her on the sidewalk of Grand Avenue near Dean Street in Crown Heights. “He just punched me on the right side here, very strong,” Pichardo told PIX11, adding that the brute never said a word. The disturbing surveillance footage shows her...

President Joe Biden is being pressed to use the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore as an opportunity to remedy alleged racial discrimination against blacks in the construction industry. Biden said this week that he had told his administration officials to “move heaven and earth” to reopen the port of Baltimore and rebuild the bridge. The reconstruction efforts, however, may be complicated by demands that the project further leftwing ideas about racial justice, the treatment of immigrants, climate change, and wealth redistribution. An op-ed in The Hill underscores that some of these demands may be irreconcilable. For...

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has declared reparations are due now to compensate for the trans-Atlantic slave trade as a way to tackle “its legacy” in today’s society, including “systemic racism and white supremacy.” In a statement to mark the U.N. International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery, Guterres said the past “laid the foundations for a violent discrimination system based on white supremacy.” “We call for reparatory justice frameworks to help overcome generations of exclusion and discrimination,” Guterres said.

Leftist churches in Boston are calling on their fellows to get behind a plan for reparations for Black Bostonians to the tune of 15 BILLION dollars...and that is, they say, just a start. To put that in perspective, the White population of Boston is about 300,000, more or less, who are being asked to shell out about $40,000 each as penance for what their ancestors did. Boston's reparations leaders demand $15 billion, $5 billion of which will go toward closing "the education achievement gap between blacks and whites". They also demand people "tell the truth". OK, the truth is money...

Senate Democrats were left red-faced at a hearing on climate change as their 'expert witness' proved to be anything but when faced by veteran senator John Kennedy. Budget Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse invited Olympic skier Gus Schumacher to give his perspective as the committee considered the impact of climate change on the recreation industry. But it was all downhill for the 23-year-old as he struggled to answer basic questions and could not remember his tweets claiming the war on drugs was designed to jail black people, and calling for the police to be abolished. The excruciating exchange continued with Schumacher insisting...

Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy is inarguably the most witty person in the U.S. Senate. With a folksy quip or quotation always at the ready, Kennedy can effortlessly dismantle an opponent’s argument with his deadpan delivery while keeping the whole room in stitches. And the reason why his delivery hits so well is that he makes sense — the common kind, which has become almost extinct in these woke times. For example, discussing some of his Democratic colleagues who support transgender athletes in women’s sports on Fox News’ “The Story,” Kennedy once said, “One of my Democratic colleague’s witnesses testified that...

Two representatives appointed to a committee considering paying reparations claimed whites were responsible for climate change, slammed Israel and pushed to defund the police. Ron Daniels and Lurie Daniel Favors — both appointed to New York’s commission on reparations and racial justice by state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) — made several fiery statements including Daniels slamming black US Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) as “Uncle Tim,” according to a review of their public statements. “White Folks Messed Up the Weather = Black Folks Save the Planet,” Daniels, a longtime activist who ran for president on the Peace and Freedom Party...

The panel in charge of drawing up New York's plans for slavery reparations is under fire after it emerged that members attacked black senator Tim Scott, blamed white people for climate change and slammed Israel within days of October 7. Governor Kathy Hochul urged New Yorkers 'not to excuse' the state's role in slavery as she set up the task force at the end of last year. But she is facing calls to fire panelist Ron Daniels after he labelled Scott 'Uncle Tim' and branded him a front man for white supremacy. 'Uncle Tim' Scott, Who Picked Cotton On the...

New York State’s Attorney General Letitia James is targeting businesses, such as the major beef producer JBS USA, for alleged environmental misrepresentations. The lawsuit accuses JBS of increasing beef production during a climate crisis and failing to adhere to environmental regulations, including driving deforestation in the Amazon. “We will cut our own emissions by 30% in 2030 and eliminate Amazon deforestation from our supply chain within five years,” James’ office stated. ames seeks penalties and criticizes JBS for misleading consumers on sustainability. “When companies falsely advertise their commitment to sustainability, they are misleading consumers and endangering our planet.” “JBS USA’s...

Black residents of Chicago should receive reparations in the form of no property taxes, a local activist group says. The group wants city leaders and Cook County to stop imposing the taxes on those residents who are allegedly being displaced from their homes, Fox 32 reported Monday. Reconstruction Era Reparation Act Now (ReRaN) Founder Howard Ray said, “People lost their homes because of property taxes. Because everybody’s been overcharged.” “So what we want to do especially for the Black community because we’re very fragile, we want to keep them and preserve them here and by doing that, we can hold...

A New York commission that will recommend whether to give reparations for slavery and discrimination to black residents hasn’t even met yet - but it’s already sparked a rift among black New Yorkers over who should be eligible for payouts. **SNIP** Bertha Lewis, head of the Brooklyn-based Black Institute, told The Post that reparations must be considered for all black residents, because they have suffered from decades of systemic racism resulting from slavery - even if they are not direct descendants of slaves. “That’s a false narrative,” Lewis said. “I don’t give a f**k what California did.” “You can’t just...

New York state prison inmates would get nearly $2,600 in taxpayer-funded pocket money to make ends meet after serving just six months in the slammer in a new bill making the rounds in Albany. The proposal from two Big Apple Democrats in the state legislature would up the amount of “gate money” given to ex-cons from the current $40 — with the money used to pay for housing, transportation and other expenses, according to the Center for Employment Opportunities, which is backing the bill. “Every year, thousands of individuals return to our communities, often with little more than the clothes...

The Church of England said it has accepted a recent report that calls on it to establish a £1 billion ($1.3 billion) fund in response to its historical ties to the Atlantic slave trade.The report released Monday by an oversight group of independent advisers suggested that the Church of England's £100 million ($127 million) commitment to the "Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice" was not sufficient "relative either to the scale of the [commissioners'] endowment or to the scale of the moral sin and crime," according to The Guardian.The report urged the Church of England to work together with other...

A former NBA player and actor was sentenced to 90 years to life in prison on Friday for a series of violent sexual assaults, some of which occurred in Los Angeles County, authorities said. “During their investigation, detectives learned [that] in 2010, Byrd was convicted of sexual assault involving a different victim,” the LAPD release stated. “Detectives also discovered that Byrd had been arrested for sexually assaulting a young woman in Washington State in 2005.” Byrd’s victims told investigators that he was “initially charming” before he subsequently forced them into a variety of sex acts. “He started as a charmer,...

Washington Post writer Maura Judkis is under fire this week for a column in which she mocks shoplifting stories as the “moral panic” of a nation built on “stolen land.”It is reminiscent of those who excused rioting in past summers “as an expression of power” and demanded that the media refer to looters as “protesters.” Now, the Washington Post is suggesting that it may be just desserts for a nation of colonizers and enslavers.The prior day, the Post ran another column downplaying accounts of stores closing due to shoplifting even though employees blamed rampant shoplifting in San Francisco.Judkis wrote a...

San Francisco's supervisors plan to offer a formal apology to Black residents for decades of racist laws and policies perpetrated by the city, a long-awaited first step as it considers providing reparations. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the resolution apologizing to African Americans and their descendants. All 11 members have signed on as sponsors, guaranteeing its passage. It would be one of the first major U.S. cities to do so. The resolution calls on San Francisco to not repeat the harmful policies and practices, and to commit “to making substantial ongoing, systemic, and...

Were your ancestors abused by a racist, oppressive system? If so, you may have rightful dibs on three-quarters of a hundred billion dollars. At least, that's true of "you" in the group sense -- such is the stance of an alliance in Missouri. For those unfamiliar with Saint Louis University (SLU), the Roman Catholic research institution was founded in 1818 and is the country's second-oldest Jesuit school. ... Fast-forward to the formation of Descendants of St. Louis University Enslaved (DSLUE). On February 8th, organization President Robin Proudie -- flanked by civil rights attorney Areva Martin, economist Julianne Malveaux and Democratic...