By Bob Katzen

The Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a measure (H 1696) that would establish a 15-member commission to study and develop proposals for reparative justice and other potential remedies to redress harm resulting from the institution of slavery and systemic racism in the Bay State. The commission would produce a report documenting the effects of slavery and its legacy on the American Freedman class – which it defines as “descendants of formerly enslaved persons emancipated in the United States via the 13th Amendment in 1865 or earlier.”

“Rep Fluker-Reid filed the bill to address the longstanding social, political and economic disenfranchisement faced by American Freedmen,” said Camille Mula, a spokesperson for Fluker-Reid. “American Freedmen in Massachusetts on average face dramatically higher rates of incarceration, extreme poverty, maternal mortality and other health disparities … compared to other racial groups as well as other Black people who fall outside of the category of Freedmen.”

A similar bill (H 1753) that would also establish a special commission to study reparation, was also on the committee’s agenda. Its sponsor, Rep. Russell Holmes (D-Boston), did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call asking him why he filed his version of the bill.