Governor Hochul Continues New York’s Leadership on Racial Equity, Signs Legislation Establishing Commission to Study Reparations And Racial Justice
Governor Hochul: “Today, I challenge all New Yorkers to be the patriots and rebuke and not excuse our role in benefiting from the institution of slavery.” Hochul: “The lesson I learned at a young age was sometimes moving the ball down the field takes more time, but the goal is always worth pursuing. I’m sharing this because I want New Yorkers to know the small steps in my development. Many of us grew up in very homogeneous communities – all Black, all Brown, all Asian, all white. And sometimes it’s just difficult to expand beyond that, to embrace differences and experiences so foreign to us, so different. Understanding each other takes work, and we rarely get it right all at once. But I say this: it’s essential that we try.” On December 19th, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation to continue New York’s leadership on racial equity by creating a new commission to study reparations and racial justice. This commission acknowledges the horrific injustice of slavery and will be tasked with examining the legacy of slavery, subsequent discrimination against people of African descent, and the impact these forces continue to have in the present day. VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here AUDIO of the Governor’s remarks is available here. A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below: Good morning. Thank you very much. In a few minutes, I’ll sign a bill authorizing the creation of a community commission to study the history of slavery in New York State. We’ll study various forms of reparations and how we can help right the wrongs of the past. And I want to acknowledge some incredible leaders who helped bring us to this date. I want to thank my partner in government, our Lieutenant Governor, Antonio Delgado. Thank you, Antonio. Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, thank you for your leadership in the Senate. Speaker Carl Heastie, getting this through the Assembly. And our sponsors, Senator James Sanders and Representative Michaelle Solages. Michaelle Solages, thank you. Louise Mirrer, I want to thank you for welcoming us to this majestic place that reminds us that this is a state and a nation steeped in incredible history, some of it positive and some not. And I want to thank Dr. Williams also, who’s going to give us a perspective of how this issue has been addressed in other states. My Empire State Development Commissioner and CEO, Hope Knight, has joined us, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and all of our elected officials in state and local government. I’m grateful for your presence here today, and Reverend Al Sharpton is on his way. Before I speak about this bill, though, I want to share with you about how we got here. And I’ll share my own personal journey, my story of how I arrived at this point. But first, I want to talk about our shared journey as Americans and New Yorkers. More than 400 years ago, the first slaves were violently kidnapped, stolen from their families and their homes. They’re brought in chains to the shores of what eventually becomes the United States of America. And these enslaved peoples literally built much of our nation with their sweat, their blood, their sorrow, and right over here we have a statue of Thomas Jefferson. He wrote the Declaration of Independence at the same time. He owned over 600 slaves. Now, in New York, we like to think we’re on the right side of this. You know, slavery was a product of the South. It’s a confederacy. We’re proud of the legacy of incredible warriors for justice and liberation, and the thousands of New York soldiers who went to fight these battles on the right side of history in the Civil War. We’re proud to be home of courageous leaders like Harriet Tubman, Conductor of the Underground Railroad buried up in Auburn, New York. Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist like John Brown, whose farm is way in the north country. We’re proud to embrace the deliverance from slavery from the Underground Railroad itself, which ran from New York all the way to Canada, crossing over in Niagara Falls where I was yesterday, and that had the strong support of many and much goodwill from residents of this state. So, we. It’s easy for us to pat ourselves on the back, right? We did all this. A lot of other states didn’t step up. We had the leaders here. We took this on. We can say we’re the heroes. We’re the ones who fought against slavery. And indeed, many did. What is hard to embrace is the fact that our state also flourished from that slavery. It’s not a beautiful story, but indeed it is the truth. In 1847, Frederick Douglass, and I just left his exhibit moments ago, you should go visit this to see his journey. He spoke at Market Hall in New York City. And he declared that he would hold America up to the lightning scorn of moral indignation over slavery. He called this the duty of a true patriot, because someone who really loves their country will rebuke it and not excuse its sins. Today, I challenge all New Yorkers to be the patriots and rebuke and not excuse our role in benefiting from the institution of slavery. According to the New York Historical Society, where we are today, as many as 20 percent of colonial New Yorkers, 20 percent of us, were enslaved Africans. A fifth of our entire population was in bondage. Beginning in 1630, some 15,000 people were, became, died and were buried in the African American, African burial ground, just feet from City Hall or from Broadway, and the Stock Exchange. Think about that. It’s not talked about a lot. That’s a problem. New York has long been the center of American commerce – Wall Street, banking, shipping, insurance. The economic engines of our entire country. And they thrived because they can trade in commodities that were
