This Black History Month, we celebrate the tremendous contributions of African Americans to the United States over more than four centuries. In this 250th year of the republic, it is long since time to recognize and repair the longstanding injustices African Americans have endured. From chattel slavery and lynching to racial segregation and redlining, this country has never reckoned with the harm inflicted on its Black citizens by centuries of systemic racism. 

It’s past time Congress took action to pursue reparations. That’s why we call on Congress to pass H.R.40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act, which would create a federal commission to investigate the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and propose remedies to address that horrible legacy.  

The United Church of Christ has a long history of advocating for racial justice and reparations. In 2023, the General Synod of the UCC passed a resolution emphasizing the moral imperative of reparations and uplifting legislations such as H.R. 40.  We laud the progress made by the Civil Rights Movement the Black Lives Matter movement yet cannot ignore the fact that this country grew wealthy in part by stealing the wages and wealth of Black people over many centuries. Christian justice demands we account for that theft, and return what was stolen. 

Repairing racial injustices is impossible without an honest examining our history. The United States did just that when, in 1980, the U.S. Congress established a commission to investigate the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans and others during the Second World War, which paved the way for a formal reckoning with this sordid past, including financial compensation to surviving victims. H.R.40 follows that existing precedent. 

As Christians, we are obliged to work for justice, which demands the restitution of ill-gotten gains and holding our own nation to account for its failure to live up to the principles of the Declaration of Independence. Contact your Member of Congress and tell them we need reparations now.