On January 16, 1865, Union General William T. Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15 which promised the formerly enslaved 40 acres and a mule. The descendants of enslaved Africans are still waiting for their inheritance, preferably payable by check.
The call for reparations dates back to 1783 when Belinda Royall petitioned the Massachusetts General Court (the state legislature) requesting a pension based on her years of enslavement from the proceeds of her master’s estate. Fast forward to today, African Americans from California to New York are saying it’s past time for reparations.
On June 22, 2023, City Council authorized the creation of the Philadelphia Reparations Task Force to “study and develop reparations proposals for Black Philadelphian descendants of enslaved Africans in the United States.”
The Cost of Inheritance: An America ReFramed Special explores “the nation's legacy of systemic inequities to modern-day America, introducing audiences to descendants of enslaved persons and slave owners, profiling their complex intertwined histories and detailing how their quest to bridge divides galvanized them to seek reparations together.”
The Cost of Inheritance: An America ReFramed Special premieres on Monday, January 8, 2024, at 10:00 pm ET on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS app.
