Speakers testify before reparations committee on Long Island racial inequities, enslavement

More than a dozen speakers testified on the racial inequities they see in education, housing and business on Long Island during a public hearing Saturday before a state commission tasked with researching the systemic impacts of slavery.

The New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies hosted the hearing at Hempstead High School as it continues its multiyear effort to produce a report that lawmakers will use to consider reparations.

"While many people associate slavery in the South, enslaved Africans were present throughout Long Island as early as the 1600s," said Seanelle Hawkins, the commission's chairperson.

Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation in December 2023 to establish the nine-member commission. The commission does not have authority to distribute financial payments; that authority would fall to state lawmakers.

Saturday's hearing was the second the commission has held on Long Island and the 19th overall.

Lynette Battle, of Valley Stream, testified how her grandparents were born "in the direct shadow of slavery" and that her great-great-grandparents were enslaved.

"The harm and economic impact did not disappear," she said. "It passed from generation to generation."

She encouraged the commission to outline clear eligibility requirements for descendants and to have a "firm commitment to implementation."

Assemb. Michaelle Solages (D-Elmont), who sponsored the hearing, said lawmakers in the state budget granted the commission an additional 24 months to complete its work. A final report now needs to be finished in 2029, she said.

"I'm excited that Long Islanders came out and they talked about the nuances of the harms that exist on Long Island," she said in an interview, referencing property tax assessments and education as examples.

Some speakers argued the commission has taken too broad an approach and also that its mission may be unconstitutional. A debate centered on whether reparations should focus on foundational Black Americans with direct lineage to enslaved ancestors as opposed to a wider group.

Commission member Ron Daniels said reparations are for all of enslavement's legacies.

"That's why the bill says reparations for enslavement and its effects," he said. "The debate has been over, however, who those effects apply to."

The commission's work comes at a time when the federal government under President Donald Trump has made it a priority to purge diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and to downplay slavery's role in American history.

Several speakers referenced Trump's willingness to financially support those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol through a recently announced $1.8 billion settlement fund.

"The work that we're doing here is very important, especially in this time where they're trying to erase Black power, where they're trying to erase anything that celebrates diversity around the country," Solages said.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Republican gubernatorial candidate challenging Hochul in November, said in a statement to Newsday that Black New Yorkers are "smart enough to know" the reparations commission is "just another empty political promise that will never materialize."

He referenced Hochul's gaffe in 2024 when she said there are Black kids growing up in the Bronx "who don't even know what the word computer is" during an interview in California. Hochul later said she "misspoke" and regretted the mistake.

"At this point, maybe Kathy Hochul is the one who needs an education," Blakeman said.

A 2021 Pew Research Center survey found views on reparations varied widely, with 77% of Black adults saying descendants of enslaved people deserved to be repaid in some way while only 18% of white Americans felt the same.

James Hodge, of Long Beach, testified at the hearing about historical inequities that exist in schools, infrastructure and local economics. He said while there's often pushback toward funding reparations, governments routinely find ways to bail out corporations.

"The issue has never been the lack of resources," he said. "It has always been the lack of political will."

The next public hearing is May 30 at the National Urban League Conference Center in Manhattan.