This is a petition for a redress of grievances!

The road to remedial justice is leading us to the White House. It's important for President Biden to finally acknowledge that chattel slavery was tolerated in the United States from the time of its 1776 founding until 1865 and that after the Civil War, slavery’s badges and incidents manifested in many forms such as the so-called racial wealth gap. This wealth gap, which is an outgrowth of slavery, has continued to have a growing negative impact on American Freedmen families and economists have predicted that the median wealth of these families will drop to zero dollars by 2053 (source: Institute for Policy Studies).

A draft Executive Order to create the Presidential Commission on Reparations for the American Freedmen Families has been submitted to the Biden administration. A letter in support of the draft E.O., outlining multiple reasons why such a Commission is necessary, has been submitted simultaneously. The purpose of this Commission is to study slavery and produce findings of facts on how it and its legacy has had increasing negative impacts on the Freedmen families who inherited slavery’s stain. Ultimately, the Commission shall make recommendations of appropriate remedies such as urging Congress to use its 13th Amendment power to clearly define and eradicate all badges and incidents of slavery. 

Although slavery’s legacy has had very real and negative race-based impact on American families, the proposed Executive Order is drafted in a way as to not continue the advancement of racialization. It should be understood that government can remedy race based harms for a class of persons without the invocation of race. The American Freedmen families are that class of persons who were emancipated via the 13th Amendment in 1865 or prior and includes their descendants.

We urge President Biden to create a Commission to Develop Reparation Proposals for these families. The Commission’s study and recommendations for remedy will serve to demonstrate that there is a compelling governmental interest to redress American Freedmen grievances. Sign this petition to support justice and equity for the American Freedmen Families!

We are asking all supporters to also send an email to President Biden at https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ and use the templated message below:

Hello, my name is ________, I am calling for President Biden to issue an Executive Order to establish a federal commission to study reparations for the American Freedmen families in the United States and make recommendations for necessary remedies.