LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Michigan Legislative Black Caucus is backing a package of bills that would establish a framework for pursuing reparations for descendants of slaves and create a new demographic category recognized in state data.

The “Reparative Justice Package.”

State Rep. Jason Hoskins (D-Southfield), one of the bill package sponsors, said the “Reparative Justice Package” focuses on the aftereffects of slavery. He announced HB 6111, HB 6112, and HB 6113 a day before Juneteenth, the federal holiday that celebrates the end of slavery in 1865. However, Hoskins said the effects of that not-so-distant history still linger today.

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“If we are serious about addressing systemic challenges, we must do so based on facts, evidence, and sound data,” Hoskins said. “This legislation allows us to move from assumptions to evidence, and from anecdotes to facts.”

Lawmakers supporting the bills say Black people face disparities because of ongoing “discriminatory public policy decisions.”

Other legislative priorities.

While supporters are seeking up to $5 million in state funding to support the bills, House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) says the measures do not align with his priorities.

“A lot of these type of task forces are pushing these reparations, where we would take resources from schools, police, and local governments and pay reparations,” Hall told WILX. “I don’t support that.”

The three-bill package would create a voluntary option within state data collection systems for people who identify as descendants of slaves, or “American Freedmen.” In addition, it would create two bureaucracies: an American Freedmen Reparations Commission to study descendants of slaves in Michigan and an Office of Freedmen Affairs.

“We’ll keep on going.”

Rep. Brenda Carter (D-Pontiac) said the caucus will keep pushing the bills until they are passed.

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“If we don’t get it through this legislative session, we will do it the next one, and we’ll keep on going just like our ancestors did,” Carter told reporters.

The package still needs a committee hearing before it can move forward. However, the GOP-led House is unlikely to pass it.