Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Seeking Reparations by Dropping Slave Claims
18 Jul 2017
🖨️ Print Article

In 2006, a federal court ruled that the descendants of Black slaves in the U.S. have no “standing” to sue for reparations. However, Dr. Jahi Issa and Reggie Mabry say they have devised a new legal strategy to overcome the courts’ objections. “Slavery in the United States was immoral, but it was legal,” said Mabry. What was not legal, however, was the importation of Africans as forced labor after the outlawing of the international slave trade in 1808. Issa and Mabry claim “the bulk” of U.S. Blacks are descended from these post-1808 victims of “human trafficking” -- as distinct from slavery -- and can make a successful case for redress in court.


More Stories


  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    What is the 'Left' in the Era of Global Fascism
    18 Mar 2026
    There is no coherent and sustained leftist movement at the very moment that U.S. led global fascism is accelerating.
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    The Light of Palestine Will Lead the Way to Global Liberation
    18 Mar 2026
    Black Agenda Report Editor and Columnist, Ajamu Baraka, recently gave a presentation at the 4th International Conference “Palestine: The Nation’s Central Cause.”
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    Weaponizing Oil: Ecocide, Imperialism and the Chemical Warfare Brigades of the U.S. and Israel
    18 Mar 2026
    The US and Israeli war of aggression against Iran continues the ecocide committed against the people of the region.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Play, Black Girl, play! (For the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music’s girls)
    18 Mar 2026
    "Play, Black Girl, play! (For the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music’s girls)" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Jason Koebler
    'A.I. Is African Intelligence': The Workers Who Train A.I. Are Fighting Back
    18 Mar 2026
    Kenyan workers are still the underpaid labor behind A.I. training, moderation, and sex chatbots. The Data Labelers Association is fighting back.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us