The Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness participated in an ecumenical call in July to support a bill before the House of Representatives calling for a commission to study reparations for people who are Black following centuries of injustice.

“As a nation, we have yet to address the legacy of our violent past and confess past and present harms,” said Laura Kigewba James, Program Co-ordinator for Grassroots Organizing on the General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church, to open the press conference held at the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill. “The legacy of slavery continues to remain the reality of structural racism and violence that exists for myself and my community.”

The Rev Jimmie Hawkins, Associate Director of Advocacy for the PC(USA), said: “This is an issue of racial justice, equity and equality. We remind Congress that this call is not new but a continuation of one that has been issued since the end of the Civil War.”

Several speakers at the press conference repeated the point that the bill calls only for a commission to study reparations, not for any actual payments. Still, such a proposal has languished 40 years in Congress before the House Judiciary Committee voted by 25 to 17 on April 14 to send the bill to the full House for a vote. Participants in the press conference urged the House to schedule a vote and pass the legislation before its August recess. (Rich Copley, Presbyterian News Service)

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