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UN chief calls for slavery reparations

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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for slavery reparations over the transatlantic slave trade, which deprived enslaved people of “education, healthcare, opportunity and prosperity.”

“We call for reparatory justice frameworks, to help overcome generations of exclusion and discrimination,” Guterres said Monday, which marked the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

“We appeal for the space and necessary conditions for healing, repair and justice,” he said.

More than 12.5 million Africans were forcibly transported by European merchants on their ships and sold into slavery. Some merchants profited off enslaved people’s labor. Those who survived trips were put on plantations in Brazil and the Caribbean.

“This laid the foundations for a violent discrimination system based on white supremacy that still echoes today,” Guterres said. “Descendants of enslaved Africans and people of African descent are still fighting for equal rights and freedoms around the world.”

A U.N. report issued last year said countries could consider financial reparations for the enslavement of people of African descent, but it recognized the process of making legal claims and identifying victims and perpetrators is complex.

“Under international human rights law, compensation for any economically assessable damage, as appropriate and proportional to the gravity of the violation and the circumstances of each case, may also constitute a form of reparations,” according to the report released in September.

“In the context of historical wrongs and harms suffered as a result of colonialism and enslavement, the assessment of the economic damage can be extremely difficult owing to the length of time passed and the difficulty of identifying the perpetrators and victims,“ the report said.

Hilary Beckles, the chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Reparations Commission, echoed Guterres’s remarks.

“This is the movement that will signal, finally, the collective victory of humanity, of good over evil,” Beckles said, according to Reuters. The CARICOM Reparations Commission was created to pursue reparations from former colonial powers like Portugal, France and Great Britain.

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U.N. chief calls for slavery reparations to overcome ‘generations of discrimination’

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United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called on Monday for reparations over the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved people as a way to tackle its legacy in today’s society, including systemic racism.

From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported by European ships and merchants and sold into slavery. Those who survived the brutal voyage ended up toiling on plantations in the Americas, mostly in Brazil and the Caribbean, while others profited from their labour.

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.

In September, a U.N. report suggested countries should consider financial reparations to compensate for slavery. The idea of paying reparations or making other amends for slavery has a long history but the movement has been gaining momentum worldwide.

“This is the movement that will signal, finally, the collective victory of humanity, of good over evil,” Hilary Beckles, chair of the reparations commission of the Caribbean Community political and economic union, or Caricom, said at the U.N. General Assembly.

The Caricom reparations commission was set up to seek reparations, including debt cancellations and support to tackle public health crises, from former colonial powers such as the United Kingdom, France and Portugal.

The Repair Campaign, which is producing socio-economic reparation plans for Caricom nations, released a poll on Monday that showed four in ten people in the United Kingdom agreed the Caribbean should receive financial compensation, while three in five agreed a formal apology was due.

Verene Shepherd, Director of the Centre for Reparation Research at the University of the West Indies said it was time for “Britain and other former and current colonial powers to own up to their responsibility.”

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L.A. considers reparations for families forced off Dodger Stadium land

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Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles is known for being one of the biggest and oldest MLB baseball parks in the country, having hosted 10 World Series and served as a grand entertainment venue for music icons like the Beatles and Elton John.

But before its construction in 1962, the area was home to thousands of residents, many of whom were of Mexican, Chinese and Italian descent. Nearly 1,800 of those families were displaced to build the stadium. State legislators are now considering a bill seeking reparations for the families.

Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo of Los Angeles on Friday introduced the Chavez Ravine Accountability Act — “offering a path toward historical accountability, reparative measures, and a permanent memorial,” according to her office.

Known today as Chavez Ravine, the 315 acres of land between the San Gabriel Mountains and downtown Los Angeles were once home to three predominantly Mexican American neighborhoods: Palo Verde, La Loma and Bishop.

Chavez Ravine evictions, 1959 — Residents of Chavez Ravine were evicted and homes were demolished in 1959 to make way for the new stadium.Miller / USC Libraries / Corbis via Getty Images file

In 1950, the land was earmarked “as a prime location for redevelopment,” prompting city officials to send letters demanding Chavez Ravine residents and property owners sell their homes to make way for a public housing project, according to the bill. At the time, the city promised displaced families they would be able to return to the community and live “in the newly redeveloped housing project.”

That promise was never fulfilled.

Public housing plans for the Chavez Ravine area were abandoned in 1958 in favor of building the baseball stadium.

Previous efforts to block its construction led more than 650,000 registered voters in Los Angeles to participate in a 1957 plebiscite deciding the stadium’s fate, according to the Library of Congress.

With 62.3% voter turnout, it became the largest non-presidential election in Los Angeles at the time, and voters ultimately sided with the Dodgers’ plan to build their stadium.

More Chavez Ravine residents were evicted in 1959 “amid screaming, crying and cursing” as bulldozers cleared the site where their homes used to stand, newspaper clippings from the time show.

The Dodgers debuted in their new stadium in April 1962.

Aurora Vargas, Melissa Arechiga’s aunt, was among those evicted residents.

Arechiga, alongside other descendants of the displaced Chavez Ravine families, founded the nonprofit group Buried Under the Blue, which seeks to raise awareness about this history.

“Today marks the start of the journey to correct the injustices that were done to the people of Palo Verde, La Loma and Bishop,” Arechiga said at a news conference Friday. “We must hold all city, state and federal agencies accountable for their part in the destruction of the three communities — plus stealing all the future generations from their wealth as owners and renters.”

“The stories of the three communities can never be told without us,” added Arechiga, whose family’s displacement was well-documented.

Carrillo’s bill specifically proposes that the city of Los Angeles create a task force to compensate the displaced families or their descendants. The proposed forms of compensation include offers of city-owned land or fair-market-value compensation.

The Dodgers Stadium at Chavez Ravine, on Feb. 28, 1962 — Dodger Stadium rushed to completion for the opening of baseball season on April 10, 1962.AP file

The measure, supported by state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, also calls for building a permanent memorial honoring affected families and creating a searchable database that details the history of the land acquisition.

Carrillo said the database would be essential to verify which families were displaced.

Her office also emphasized that the bill “focuses solely on the displaced community of Chavez Ravine” and does not request involvement from Dodger Stadium or the baseball team that plays there.

Carrillo said the measure will be heard in the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee but did not specify when.

After it moves through the Assembly, the bill must go before the state Senate before it lands on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.

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