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3 J.L. Soc'y 133 (2002)
The Development of the Movement for Reparations for African Descendants

handle is hein.journals/jls3 and id is 141 raw text is: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MOVEMENT FOR REPARATIONS FOR AFRICAN DESCENDANTS ADJOA A. AIYETORO* I. INTRODUCTION The current movement for reparations for African descendants' in the United States has its roots in the enslavement of African peoples. 2 This demand for reparations has its ebbs and tides in terms of the numbers actively supporting it. There was a peak in the movement in the 1890s, resulting in the formation of the Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty & Pension Association, an organization that lobbied Congress for favorable legislation.3 The demand for reparations is reaching a new peak, embraced by people of African descent across class, political and ideological boundaries. Reparations are also gaining support in other communities of color and with some white Americans. The demand for reparations, although firmly based in the enslave- ment of African peoples in the United States, is a demand for acknowl- edgment and repair of the vestiges of slavery. It is a demand that organically links current day status and treatment of African descen- * Adjoa A. Aiyetoro is an adjunct professor at American University at the Washington College of Law. She received her J.D. from the Saint Louis University School of Law. 1. The term African descendants is used throughout this Commentary for African peoples in the United States who identify as Black people of African ancestry and are African or descended from Africans. Some of this group may identify themselves as African American or New Afrikan. 2. RANDALL ROBINSON, THE DEBT: WHAT AMERICA OWES BLACKS (2000); See also VELMA MAIA THOMAS, LEST WE FORGET: THE PASSAGE FROM AFRICA TO SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION (1997). 3. Walter B. Hill, Jr., The Ex-Slave Relief, Bounty & Pension Association: Some History and Geneological Notes, in 59 NEGRO HISTORY BuLLETIN (1996), also available at (visited March 2, 2002) <http://www.afrigeneas.comlibrary/ hillarticle/html>. 133

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