Minnesota Democrats have introduced a $100 million reparations bill that would require the state to issue a formal apology to the family of George Floyd and acknowledge the “systemic racism in the state.” Introduced by Rep. Samakab Hussein, DFL-St.Paul, the “Minnesota Migration Act” begins with a list of “findings.”
“The legislature finds … that structural institutionalized racism in Minnesota and all of American society has led to overwhelming Black-white disparities in housing, business investment, economic prosperity, health and wellness, life expectancy, and infant mortality,” the bill states.
It claims that reparations for the descendants of slaves are “considered the most effective means of breaking down the societal structure related to power, money, and access to resources and may be the only solution that can be applied intergenerationally that would be an investment in the future and in reducing disparities.”
The bill then provides a list of seven items that the state of Minnesota would be required to apologize for, including the deaths of George Floyd, Philando Castile, and Jamar Clark.
“The state shall issue an apology for the past occurrence of chattel slavery and notable slave owners in Minnesota,” the bill says.
The bill calls for the establishment of a “Minnesota Migration Act Advisory Council,” which would be responsible for studying and distributing reparations in conjunction with the Department of Human Rights.
The bill would appropriate $100 million in fiscal year 2024 from the general fund to a new “Minnesota Migration Act account.”
“The tragic murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer has stirred a local, national, and international reckoning of the immorality of the racial hierarchy that exists under our democratic institutions and defies the founding values of this nation,” the bill says.
The bill would not prevent the federal government or local jurisdictions from providing their own reparations. St. Paul is moving forward with a plan to do just that.
This article originally appeared at Alpha News.
