The government has just set aside a large sum of money – $ 40bn – to pay compensation to victims and their families for the atrocities that have taken place in much of the country’s history. The issues do not concern the United States, where the dispute over the repatriation of slavery has been suspended in Congress for many years. No, this story is from a US neighbor in northern Canada.
The Canadian government has agreed to set aside the money, equivalent to $ 31bn for Canadian Indians who have been educated in Canadian “boarding schools”. These organizations, often run by the Catholic Church and other religions, removed the children of First Nations, Inuit and Métis from their parents and communities and removed their traditions by forcing them to practice English and French, Christian and white religious traditions. Canadian culture.
The system of theft and government-sanctioned training began in 1883 until the last school was closed in 1996, despite a long and well-known history of violence. The news that has been circulating for years about these schools is shocking. Child sexual abuse was widespread, and many schools had high mortality rates, as children died of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases, malnutrition, violence, and even infanticide. The recent revelation of hundreds of newly discovered undisclosed cemeteries in areas where closed schools are now raging has angered Canadians in recent months. These public offenses, combined with the 2016 court ruling that survivors should be compensated, as well as two pending cases, prompted the Canadian government to take action.
In contrast, the dispute over retaliation continues in the US without any ruling. Legislation in the House of Representatives to set up an international inquiry into the case, figuratively speaking called House Resolution 40 (HR 40) after the well-known promise of “Forty Acres and a Mule” promises to return exiled slaves after the American Civil War, initiated by the Manufacturers black legislation every year since 1989, to no avail. The national census that took place following the death of George Floyd and others in 2020 seems to bring new interest in the reform talks. HR 40 came out of the committee for the first time in 2021 but has not yet voted.
In contrast to Canada, where the disclosure of Native Children’s graves helped to foment moral outrage and government practices, the evils of American slavery have been well documented in the academic and popular media for a long time. And efforts like the 1619 Project to shed light on slavery and its effects on American history have led to a backlash and laws enacted to reduce and hide the growth and dangers of American slavery and racial oppression. Such rules reflect new opposition seeking retaliation. And so attempts to curb moral anger can be counterproductive in the face of self-defense and government policies designed to tarnish history.
Despite these obstacles in the United States, the American retaliation case can be reinforced by examples from Canada. The multi-billion dollar donation to Canada comes after years of great and steady earnings across the country. An earlier ruling in 2006 compelled the federal government and the Catholic Church to pay compensation to the victims. In recent years, the provinces of Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have agreed to establish a $ 10 billion (US) agreement with the First Nations, based on the unfair distribution of land in terms of decades or even centuries. An Ontario court recently ruled that the government has been paying the minimum number of members of the First Nations in accordance with the 1850 treaty, which requires billions of dollars to repay debts.
The first lesson from these Canadian models is that the same action can have far-reaching consequences. This is particularly encouraging in the US where, in the absence of state law, local territories have taken over the reins. Evanston, Illinois recently became the first US city to implement a repatriation program for African Americans. The city has encouraged other municipalities to look into similar programs; big cities like Detroit and Boston have taken steps to secure a refund. Evanston even recently held a meeting of the National African American Reparations Commission, which seeks to “create a global partnership between activists working to restore order in the region.” California, the most populous country in the world, has formed a working group by 2020 that has been exploring the details of how to help repatriate the entire state. Even private institutions have begun to develop programs for American descendants, including Georgetown University and a number of other colleges and universities with a history of slavery.
In addition, retaliation has been made or considered in actual cities and international programs that persecuted black people. North Carolina has been paying millions for victims of forced child rearing during the international eugenics program that lasted until 1976. Chicago has been paying millions of dollars to provide compensation to victims of police brutality under the now-defunct Police Commander Jon Burge . The government of the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma has begun negotiating compensation for each survivor and the descendants of the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre, which was best known for the 100th anniversary of the genocide of black people in the city.
In both cases, some of the recipients of the compensation are the survivors of the laws in question, as is the case with the Canadian program. However, these programs have also ensured that families directly affected are eligible for compensation. In addition, although slavery in the United States has long since ceased to exist for any of the victims, there is a serious problem that slavery represented only one part of the anti-black policies that included the racism of Jim Crow. “Reform” policies that elect black owners, as well as biased police and judicial systems, which continue to affect black people today. Indeed, academic and renowned retaliator Ta-Ne sensor Coates has stated this, in addition to his well-known 2014 article: The Case for Reparations.
If the Canadian model is to be followed, the focus on these cases is consistent – reorganization in American cities, the assassination of Tulsa, police brutality in Chicago, retaliation in cities or other countries – could lay the groundwork for larger and more comprehensive compensation plans mountains. for a great system of racial oppression. This recovery strategy is able to facilitate and achieve a groundbreaking approach that has been adopted in Congress through HR 40.
A final lesson from Canada is that, until a law is enacted to recognize and retaliate for past injustices, courts may be the best solution. The United States has seen courts move ahead in parliament elsewhere, from desegregation in the 1950s by Brown vs Board of Education to LGBTQ rights in recent Obergefell vs Hodges and Bostock vs Clayton County cases. One such case of reprisals in the US was resolved in 2004 “without discrimination,” meaning it could be revived. As local, international, and corporate efforts to recover become more and more common, such changes may increase the likelihood of new retaliation cases. Prosecution, or a strong court case, could encourage lawmakers to move to HR 40, seeking legal redress for the evils of slavery and the racial oppression that follows.
The Canadian approach to redress of persistent crimes against Indians has a long way to go. As the head of the First Nations Human Rights Watch (ASF) has stated in no uncertain terms, there is no final agreement between the Canadian government on $ 40bn and “promises do not end child discrimination if they do not.” The U.S. case for repatriation is almost over, as it did not renew the 1865 Acre “pledge. ethnic justice is the redress of some of the ills that have accumulated over the centuries.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Al Jazeera.
