Sign if you agree: Black Lives Matter. Black people deserve restorative compensation.

, [sign the petition to Congress: Black Americans deserve reparations](. [SIGN THE PETITION]( People across the planet are marching and demanding action to redress the systemic racism Black people have faced in this country since the first slave ships arrived in Virginia in 1619. Our country’s economic prosperity was built off the forced labor of millions of Black people, who were subject to regular beatings, sexual assault, and family separation. As the esteemed writer Ta-Nehisi Coates reflects in his [article]( “The Case for Reparations,” “Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.” More than 150 years after the end of the Civil War, our country is still plagued by the legacy of anti-Black racism, and the nation has yet to reconcile this grave crime against humanity. Despite the short-lived Reconstruction-era promise that “Forty Acres and a Mule” would be provided to formerly enslaved people to assist with their economic emancipation, this country has never formally apologized or adequately addressed the effects of centuries of racism and racial discrimination. [Sign if you agree that it is past time for the United States to take tangible, concrete action to address anti-Black racism.]( [SIGN THE PETITION]( In the weeks after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and other Black people killed at the hands of police and white supremacist vigilantes, the country’s consciousness has been raised and a collective cry has gone out demanding sweeping systemic changes in policing, hiring, and economic empowerment. Despite this, Congress still has yet to act to address the role of slavery and anti-Black discrimination in creating and perpetuating the country’s gargantuan racial wealth gap and widespread inequality. Congress must begin to address the economic consequences of slavery and racial discrimination and develop proposals for redress, including reparations. 135 U.S. representatives have signed on to H.R.40, a [bill]( introduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee to examine slavery and discrimination from 1619 to the present and to study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans. Sen. Cory Booker introduced a [companion bill]( (S.1083) in the Senate, but just 19 of his colleagues have signed on as co-sponsors. This legislation has been introduced every year since 1979, but it has never moved to a vote. Now is the time for action. [Click here to AUTOMATICALLY sign the petition calling on Congress to formally begin the process of studying and developing reparations proposals for Black Americans.]( [AUTOMATICALLY SIGN THE PETITION]( Our message to Congress: Our country’s economic prosperity was built off the forced labor of millions of enslaved Black people. Much of contemporary inequality in America is a direct result of centuries of slavery and racial discrimination. As people across the United States and the world rise up against police violence and systemic anti-Black racism, Congress must pass H.R.40 and formally begin the process of studying and developing reparations proposals for Black Americans. The time for action is now. In solidarity, Sarah Hogg, Daily Kos Daily Kos Relies on Readers Like You We don't have billionaire sugar daddies like some right-wing media outlets. Half our revenue comes from readers like you, meaning we literally couldn't do this work without you. Can you chip in $5 right now to help Daily Kos keep fighting? [Chip in $5]( If you wish to donate by mail instead, please send a check to Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612. Contributions to Daily Kos are not tax deductible. Sent via [ActionNetwork.org](. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Daily Kos, please [click here](.