(DailyAnswer.org) – Activists in Boston have demanded $15 billion in reparations for racial inequities rooted in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Boston Task Force on Reparations pleaded with “White Churches” to extend their wealth to support black communities. White and Black clergy members reportedly met in Roxbury for a press conference they meant to hold outside. Due to the rain, it was held in the basement of the Resurrection Lutheran Church. In February, activists called on the city to commit fully to “writing checks” and demanded a payout of $15 billion, arguing that the city’s fortune was built on slavery.
Reverend Kevin Peterson, founder of the grassroots organization the Boston People’s Reparations Commission, noted the links of many churches in downtown Boston to the slave trade. Peterson has successfully pressed the City of Boston to apologize for its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Reverend John Gibbons of the Arlington Street Church in Back Bay claimed the city’s colonial churches were all founded on the profits of slavery beginning in the seventeenth century. Roughly 12% of the city’s population were slaves during the early 1700s.
Heather Cook, one of the commissioners of the organization, stated that they were mobilizing and educating their community about the city’s role in the slave trade. Stressing the disparities within the community, Cook said they were working on “gathering stories” to find solutions. Peterson is campaigning to have the Faneuil Hall renamed because of its role in the slave trade in the 18th century. He called on the churches to “atone” for the “sins” of the slave trade and share their “great wealth” with the black community.
Peterson said the organization called on the churches with a heart full of “Christian love” to provide cash payments and assist in creating more affordable housing for black communities. The letter was sent to three churches —Arlington Street Church, Old South Church, and Trinity Church — in Back Bay and was signed by 16 religious leaders. All the “white churches” approached were founded in the 17th and 18th centuries.
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