Truth and Reconciliation for Slavery Reparations

Reparations Union Lobbying Association (RULA) Brotha Pruitt Chairman

African-Americans will honor their ancestors and pay tribute to their elders when they finish the work that was started in the Civil Rights Movement by organizing and executing the Reparations Movement. Blacks would put themselves in an advantageous position if they would realize that they would not have reached the position they are in today had it not been for Black, White and Jewish Freedom Fighters. In order to let them know we appreciate their sacrifice and struggle we owe it to them and ourselves to complete this effort that will lead to African-Americans gaining an equal and sovereign status. This means we should work closely with all people who believe Blacks should participate in this manner for social change.

Introduction

The history, philosophy and social order of this nation reflects cultural damage and lasting harm done to blacks in addition to crippling their ambitions for progress by prohibiting them from forming a power base, establishing financial independence, and undoing stereotypes. African-Americans can gain power and respect by organizing to expose problems in society that emanate from constant degradation and institutional exclusion. Blacks can evaluate all comprehensive plans that were designed to explore means for restitution by focusing on three areas to build around to form a national plan for collective participation and upliftment. These areas are reclaiming their roots and defending their people; rehabilitative services and producing positive images; and acquiring land to develop an infrastructure. Racism, a lack of community bonding and planning with their resources and a depressed spirit in most blacks has kept them from achieving equality. The question is has integration led to instituting equality? If not, blacks should look at alternatives to integration.

African-Americans are concerned about making progress as a family unit, even though, blacks have become accustomed to watching their talented tenth group excel, while the majority of them continue to live under constraints of social control and power devices. Less fortunate blacks are happy to support celebrations of the fortunate middle and upper class blacks, yet most blacks experience daily discrimination in all areas of people activity. They are facing issues that affect them directly and indirectly, which indicates a drastic drop in their social status in statistics that measure equality. Though racism is the major part of this problem; hating, snitching and self destruction are at an all time high among blacks and something should be done to address these issues. African-Americans have provided hundreds of years of free slave labor, provided trillions of dollars to the American economy through achievements, contributions and taxes and have lost too many lives fighting for freedom and democracy abroad, to be left out of sharing the good opportunities that this country has to offer. Blacks do not have social or economic equality and they remain victims to a supremacist system that has matured from slavery and colonialism into capitalism. White Supremacy is responsible for this action and is easy to understand and made relevant to the struggle for equality if white scholars explain it from their point of view. It is a shame for some whites to admit racism/white supremacy is a serious problem in society when some blacks refuse to acknowledge this great injustice oppresses blacks today. The principle of racism recognizes preferential treatment as an inherent status whites take for granted because they do not have to ask permission or sacrifice in any way to gain that all powerful benefit!, after all, it’s a part of being white and excluding blacks.

African-Americans should form a Reparations Union creating a power base in the tradition of lobbying and special interest groups that will consist of rich, middle class and poor blacks in addition to community conscious whites, jews and others who would like to see blacks win reparations and attain equality. This would enable African-Americans to announce the need for a congressional hearing to address the ills in society that exist because of slavery, segregation, institutional racism and discrimination. African-Americans owe it to themselves and their ancestors to expose politics and people responsible for maintaining corruption perpetuating unethical activity.

Blacks profess their love for God and their desire for peace and blessings among all human beings every Sunday, however, we must remember truth must be told and reconciliation must be the goal, in order for this course of action and atonement to take place.

This includes adding accounts represented by events and individuals of African heritage into the American educational curriculum. Information that proves black people are the original people, that Jesus is a Black man, that blacks cultivated the arts and the sciences, and that blacks helped to build and move America forward. All four cases are relevant to African-Americans learning the true history of their people and replacing an imposed sense of self-worthlessness with self-esteem.

Black people have been oppressed for generations and systematically disqualified from rights and privileges of citizens in America that would secure equality. This manual can facilitate change.

Let me give a brief explanation of five of the seven articles highlighted on the cover of the manual I have arranged and the manner in which I arranged the five sections.

Articles: The Reparations Analysis – This overview defines reparations for black people. It shows how they were damaged and why they deserve compensation, especially when others have received restitution for damages that were far less severe and much shorter in duration.
White Scholars who support Black Reparations – White scholars explaining variables in society that oppress black people, limit their options for progress and exclude them from most avenues that lead to equal rights and upward mobility. Whites explain these variables as racism in terms of conferred dominance, preferential treatment and unearned privilege and suggest we do something to solve the problems that continue to multiply because of these variables in society.
The Victims Reparations Guidelines (VRG) – Is a document that provides guidelines to name victims of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. The guidelines say victims have a right to ask for rehabilitative services, restitution and compensation free of retaliation from the perpetrators and that the guilty parties should take diversity classes in all levels of society.
The Reparations Home Exchange Program (RHEP) – A program designed to provide good housing for all African-Americans, which they deserve after going through slavery. They will have descent housing and full employment as a race if they rebuild their homes, build new homes and build the temporary facilities to house their families as they enter the RHEP.
The 5-phase plan – Is a tool African-Americans can use that will enable them to identify problems and develop solutions. The plan is designed to utilize the best information to assist them in finding the perpetrators of these crimes and the depths of suffering and problems caused by these injuries. This will permit determining compensation in proportion to the extent of damage done.

Sections: Early Africa and World Progress – To show civilization began in Africa with the presence of black people and their influence on cultures around the world as a spiritual and intelligent people.
Reparations Preview – To give people a better understanding of what reparations are and why African-Americans qualify. Stemming from their plight as a people who were captured against their will, prohibited to practice traditional customs and forced into slavery then assimilation.
Reasons for Blacks to claim Reparations – CAAR gives twenty four basic reasons for African-Americans to claim reparations in addition to a host of other areas in which blacks have suffered immense damage, which qualifies them for special treatment, renewal and organizing.
Collective Action – Offers the 5-phase .plan as a strategy for blacks to win reparations if they would work collectively. It contains the efforts of strong African and African American women who are striving to make a difference. It reflects the desire of the entire race to achieve self-determination. The Reparations Proclamation is a collective decree on behalf of African-Americans.
African-Americans Today – Shows a set of statistics compiled that indicates blacks do not have equality and that they are falling further behind their white counterparts. This manual concludes with a Reparations Poll. You will see the direction we are going if you read all of the information prior to filling it out and returning it.

If you think about all of the blacks from inner-cities throughout this nation who have excelled in religion, business, politics, entertainment, education, sports, law, music, medicine and all the other professions you would have to ask yourself why they have not formed an elite group to address the problems that affect poor blacks. I believe it is because they need time to enjoy their success, which is natural, and there are those among them who are paid to keep conflict and confusion going so that they do not establish a group for that purpose. And perhaps up to today there was no plan containing means to address all of their concerns. The 5-phase plan can fill that gap. It can unite blacks, guide them spiritually and provide methods to find solutions for their problems. It is a brilliant plan that came together with input from professionals and activist and who are both Black and White. The objective is to make a clear statement that describes the crimes and damages that black people have been forced to endure, which made them victims of gross civil and human rights violations. They were displaced from their homeland, made victims of exploitation, and subjected to long lasting and severe physical and psychological abuse. They had resources stolen from their homeland that has made other nations rich while leaving their country in debt, facing tribal conflicts and undeveloped. And to make things worse they suffered a substantial loss to their individual and collective economic potential. This issue will require concerned blacks to form coalitions with others, to act on the problems that plague society together, if they intend on finding a system of solutions to solve the many problems that racism/white supremacy has caused.

Africans have faced this dilemma since they arrived in America in large numbers in the 1500s and they should put their differences aside to form a power base, (The Reparations Union) that would enable them to deal with racism and other problems in society. The union would consist of blacks from every social status, whites and others who know blacks have been targets of racially motivated attacks and victims of hate crimes for a very long time and that they deserve an apology and every kind of compensation imaginable. Various forms of recompense appear in the manual, which includes African-Americans being awarded unconditional reparations based on expert, scholarly and experienced opinions, who will draw their conclusions after completing assignments accepted in their role as committee and commission members. They will present findings on why leaving true black history out of the social mores and educational system along with telling lies about blacks being inferior has created a damaged psychological condition deep in the subconscious of most black people called Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS), in addition to other types of emotional disorders. The members will show how being victims of violence and Black Suffrage (Lynching and Share Cropping, etc.), has contributed to the impaired subconscious of most African-Americans. The members will assess profits gained from slavery, Black achievements and invaluable contributions. They will also assess unjust profits and enrichment gained by corporations and other entities. Upon the completion of their work, they will chart a Reparations Package that will contain solutions in the form of social programs and public policies of which the victims will receive assistance now and stipulations for future concessions. America should consider the package as fair compensation for blacks enduring slavery, excessive pain and suffering and unjust laws and policies that kept them from having equality, in addition to establishing a means for them to decrease wealth disparity.

The information I have provided in the manual will give direction and lead African-Americans towards true independence. It can be very effective and it contains a solution for racism that is easy to understand if you read all of the information very carefully. Contact me when you finish reading the material. We need to establish polling places in every region of America to implement the 5-phase plan and win reparations for African-Americans. The Reparations Proclamation outlines the final phase. It provides a process for bringing the races together to form commissions to show damages inflicted upon blacks and reparations required to repair those crimes and injuries.


Africa is the Cradle of Civilization
By Chiekh Anta Diop & Dr. John Henrik Clarke

Learning the true history of the world would provide a clear understanding of the many different contributions that came from various cultures and peoples around the world. White supremacy has elevated the European culture while downplaying and attempting to destroy other cultures. Let's look at the African culture and pay tribute to their awesome accomplishments in technology and math, which led to the establishment and maintenance of classic infrastructure. Then try to understand the exceptional manner in which they governed their affairs and the significance of their impact on the advancement of their civilization and these various cultures around the world.

According to Dr. Leaky, the European paleontologist who discovered Lucy, the oldest set of human bones ever found on this planet, Africa is the birthplace of the human family. According to Mendel, the European scientist who proved that dark genes are dominant and light genes are recessive, Africans are the original people, and the parents of all human beings. According to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the African prophet who brought a sense of self worth to millions of Blacks in America, Black people are the original people and they have been on this planet for trillions of years. The original people were created in the image of God, and as Gods chosen people he gave them the knowledge to create and advance all of the arts and sciences, including the concepts of theory, time, language and structures. Those original people were very dark Black people. They called the land where they lived the home of the burnt and dark skinned people. A place that is commonly known as Kemet among Black scholars.

The great ancient African civilizations consisted of knowledge and wisdom that was so powerful that it provided the diagrams for most of the wonders of the world, and also the foundations for society as we know it today. These great civilizations produced great African Kings such as Akhenaton, the world's greatest social reformer. He was a wizard at administration and he loved life so much that he outlawed warfare. His respect for God and love for life was evident in his admiration for nature and animals; he was such a spiritual man that he would not even hurt a flower. The knowledge from God and the will to submit to his wisdom paved the way for Akhenaton to become such a great leader, since the African peoples shared his spirituality they were blessed by God and encouraged to build the pyramids, the sphinx and a variety of great temples with beautiful ancient artifacts within. The Europeans were amazed at these structures and the calculations required in constructing these monumental architectural phenomena, even though, they cannot figure out how the Africans accomplished these great feats during ancient times. The Europeans gave up trying to understand Gods knowledge along with the advanced African civilizations and began attempts to make the structures appear as though they would reflect European heritage. They even went as far as chipping away at the nose of the sphinx and claiming that Egypt was a European civilization.

Chiekh Anta Diop, the great Senegalese Historian, Egyptologist and Paleontologist insisted on proving to the European educators and scholars, once and for all, that Egypt was undeniably of Black African heritage, and that Europeans should bring an immediate halt to chipping away at the great African wonders of the world and accept Africa as the home of spirituality and higher learning. Europeans have been successful in reserving a place for Aristotle, Plato and Socrates as the great thinkers of early times but documentation proves that they received their training in higher education from Africa. In 1974 Diop also told them he could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Egypt was located in Africa and that Egyptians were Black people. When Diop told them he could prove this by obtaining pigment from the mummies, the Europeans had to agree on the fact that Egypt and all of the ancient civilizations along the Nile were in Africa and populated by Black people, until the bastardization of the African continent began with European invasions.

A few of the glorious ancient African civilizations that flourished in Africa were Ghana, Mali and Songhai. Ghana is a West African country that is known for its abundance of wealth in gold. Though she is rich in wealth and has priceless traditions, Ghana took a turn for the worst when invasions began. Ghana and most African nations today exist as nations in turmoil plagued by persistent poverty, mounting debt, political instability and overwhelming problems like famine and disease, which came as a result of slavery and colonialism. The ASANTE Empire controlled most of the territory until the British arrived. Their rich tradition included communal land holdings by lineages or clans and they commanded the loyalty of their peoples. The AKAN peoples were matrilineal, while the GA, the EWE and most other northern groups were patrilineal. The matrilineal cultures were led by strong Black women leaders that Africans were proud to uplift. This is a custom that is favorable throughout Africa. The African traditionalists were pleased with their women leaders and warriors, just as African-Americans are proud of their women leaders today.

Mali covers territory of the former French Sudan. It was a prime location for the early trade between African nations. It also flourished as a result of the trade in gold. By 500 BC the agriculturalist along the Niger and the Senegal River valleys developed the skills to make use of metals, (copper, iron and gold). The ability to mine and develop precious metals was the basis for prosperity in ancient trading centers such as Djenne'-Jeno. According to oral traditions from the MANDINKA, Sundiata Keita gained control of the lucrative Sub-Saharan trade. In the early 14th century Mali was at her high point under Mansa Musa 1. Mali extended from the Atlantic Ocean to Gao along the middle Niger. Mali was a federation of kingdoms that came together under one king.

Songhai is also a West African Nation that prospered from its salt and gold in the trade arena at the great trade cities of Djenne', Gao and Tombouctou. In the late 15th century the empire was led by SUNNI All, after his death the empire was taken over by Muhammad I Askia, who was from a Mande-speaking tribe. These new rulers were kin to the peoples who controlled Mali. They were Muslim rulers who reached their greatest potential in having an empire stretch from Kanem- Bornu and the Rausa states in the east to the upper Senegal River in the west, which included the salt mining area of Teghazajn, the desert to the north. The ancestors of the Songhai established a kingdom on the Niger bendas as early as the 7th century C.E.

As Europeans began exploring and trading with Africans they were mystified at the beauty of Africa and the efficiency in which the Africans governed their land and peoples. Europeans became preoccupied with taking the land and resources from the Africans. They developed the evil practices of slavery and colonialism to carry out their desires to rape Africa, her people and her riches. The greatest lie the world has ever known came when Europeans tried to cover up their evil practices, claiming they were civilizing the dark African continent. A part of reparations should include European educators and scholars writing and lecturing on the true history of the world. Africans had gone through 24 great dynasties before the first sign of European intelligence arrived on the planet in 850 BC with the Odyssey and the Illiad. Africans were living in a state of peace and in tune with nature when the first act of European aggression came from the Roman invasion in 332 BC. The Greeks did go to Africa in 525 BC, but they went with the intent of learning and seeking trade. The Greek civilization owes all of her heritage to the African peoples, as do all the other nations of the world.

The proof lies in the father of medicine. Many European scholars and educators have labeled Hippocrates as the father of medicine. That is why doctors are sworn in with the Hippocratic Oath, however, the true father of medicine is Imhotep. Hippocrates has even written that he was a student of the great Imhotep, so how can Hippocrates be the father of medicine and unfortunately the lies have never stopped. There is proof of an early African presence in every culture on earth, from the olmecs in America to the wa and the twa in far east countries. The truth will show that man originated in Africa and branched out across the earth.
There have been many lies past on from generation to generation that have upheld false ideals for white supremacy, while these same lies have been used to degrade and depress Black people. They range from lies like Christopher Columbus discovering America to lies like whites are intellectually superior to Blacks. African-American adults are at a crucial stage in their lives. Their parents and their hip-hop generation have contributed a great deal to the dilemma and dialogue on race in America. The message was loud and clear with their parents in the Black Power Movement when James Brown said, "Say it Loud", "O'm Black and a'm proud". The message was also clear in the "Self-Destruction" compilation message sent by a multitude of hip-hoppers. Their parents called for self-esteem among their people, while their hip-hoppers called for self-determination. The African¬American adult message that is missing today should be to expose the lies and tell the truth.

The truth will permit Africans to know they have played a significant role in societies progressing since the beginning of time and in America becoming a superpower of the world today. They should strive to implement lessons that show the excellence of the African in the American educational system, from K-12, college and including professional diversity seminars. This will provide a light of hope for Black people in their own eyes and through the eyes of others in society, where citizens and residents of this nation can begin to respect Black people, and African-Americans will also find an aspiration to pursue the American dream. It is not healthy for Blacks or Whites to continue to allow lies to be forced on the American public. A mutual respect can materialize among the races if the truth is told. Blacks do not have to have rebellions and riots in order to have the truth told. All they have to do is form an organization with the purpose of looking out for the best interest of their people. When they form this organization where the members are genuinely concerned about the well being of Blacks and their communities, Whites and others will join and support them in their effort, because the people in this nation know Blacks have been treated very bad for a very long time, and that they should receive some type of compensation for enduring the hostilities and legalities that have prevented them from having peace, liberty or the pursuit of happiness. Let's look at the condition of Black people today and see if we can find correlations between the way Blacks were treated on slave ships, during slavery, the Jim Crow era and today. The one constant a person can find as it relates to Africans and the way they have been treated in America, during and since slavery is racism. They should form the Reparations Union to address the institutional and systematic problems that racism has created. Understanding the African culture from an African perspective will provide the incentive for Blacks to mobilize in mass numbers to deal with issues facing their people. A special thanks goes out to these two great scholars for initiating that difficult task. They are our pioneers on presenting the truth about Africa and her peoples.

White Scholars on Racism/White Supremacy supporting justice in Black Reparations

Below is a study done by a white woman. She attempts to unlock some of the motives and history behind "white supremacy" or whiteness.
Constructing White Supremacy
By Judy Helfand

In this paper, I hope to show that white supremacy consists of a body of knowledge, ideologies, norms, and other practices that have been constructed over the history of the American colonies and the U.S. with roots in European history. The practices of white supremacy affects how we think about race, what we see when we look at certain physical features, how we build our own racial identities, how we operate in the world, and what we "know" about our place in it. White supremacy is shaped and maintained by the full array of social institutions--legal, economic, political, educational, religious and cultural. As individuals and in groups, affected by white supremacy, we in turn influence and shape these institutions. Thus, whiteness is constantly evolving in response to social forces and the constellation of people who are seen as white may change over time, but blacks are excluded from that category.

According to Theodore Allen, the practices of white supremacy and the accompanying "white race" were invented in the U.S. as part of a system of racial oppression designed to solve a particular problem in colonial Virginia. For now, the important element of his theory is that whiteness serves to preserve the position of a ruling white elite who benefit economically from the labor of middle and low class whites and blaks. Whiteness and its practices, determines who qualifies as "white" and maintains a race and class hierarchy in which the group of people who qualify as white disproportionately control power and resources, and within that group of white people, a small minority of elite control most of the group's power and resources.

As individuals in the U.S., we are generally assigned a racial identity at birth based on our appearance or on the race assigned to our parents. Growing up, regardless of our assigned race, we are shaped by the practices of white supremacy because it affects our self identity. In most cases, a casual observation is sufficient for an observer to see us as members of our assigned racial group. This may take many forms, including both the desire to structure a system based on equality and a positive identity as whites along with the desire to eliminate racial categories altogether.

In any case tension between (1) the self identity of blacks and the way they operate in the world and the ways in which they are seen by others and (2) the ways others expect them to operate exist.

Also in the field of labor history, the Social Security Act, the Labor Relations Act, and the GI Bill reveal how whiteness is constructed and maintained, and white people benefit, through supposedly neutral government policies and institutions.

European Historical Basis for Whiteness

Prior to the establishment of colonial Virginia, Europeans already had a history of viewing non¬European people as different and inferior, even questioning their humanity. The African slave trade is the prime example and an increasingly lucrative business for European nations during the seventeenth century and became a booming business for England in the eighteenth century. Some researchers argue that European culture produced people who needed a lower class group, a class of people who they considered inferior, a people who incorporated qualities rejected or even demonized by European standards, allowing Europeans to develop and force acceptance of a system of white racial privilege. In fact, the system was so well digested that by the time they wrote the U.S. Constitution, most of those engaged in drafting and enacting it saw no internal conflict in adapting a document based on liberty, equality, and the rights of men that excluded (slaves) from those inalienable rights. Liberty was, within whiteness and reserved for white people.

The Virginia Colony and the Foundation for White Supremacy

Tobacco proved profitable initially, the market seemed unlimited, and everyone in Virginia turned to growing as much tobacco as possible. Tobacco is a labor intensive crop and as the demand for workers increased, more and more bond laborers were sent over from England. The early survival rates were low. Few workers survived even 10 years, which added to the need for labor. By the 1620s, African slaves from the Caribbean colonies were also arriving in Virginia.

As more bond laborers survived their tenure, the number of freemen increased. However, through a combination of factors, starting in the 1660s, land ownership evolved into increasingly large plantations for a smaller number of rich men. Many freemen lost their small holdings, or never received any, and were reduced to being tenant farmers or unemployed wanderers. They became increasingly discontent with the distribution of land and wealth in Virginia and resistance surfaced, most notably in the famous Bacon's Rebellion of 1673. Bond laborers and slaves both joined in and initiated their own resistance, protesting their current situation and their future prospects. So by the late 1660s, around the time when Virginia began to enact laws distinguishing between European bond laborers and African slaves, the large landowners had become an elite group faced with an increasingly unruly populace of mostly European small land holders and artisans, freemen without land, again mostly European bond laborers. These large landowners required a large workforce to grow, harvest, and cure the tobacco which remained the basis of the Virginia economy. Faced with the problem of how to maintain social control, the small ruling elite searched for a way to defuse the potential for rebellion insofar as possible and to create a class that would support the elite and help suppress rebellion should it occur. To accomplish this they began to create a system of racial oppression that would divide the slaves and bond laborers into black and white, with special privileges for the whites. Further, "[by a system of acts, the [Virginia] assembly did what it would to foster the contempt of whites for blacks]."

Later laws were set to specifically prevent relationships between those of European descent and those of African. In 1691 a law was enacted for the "prevention of that abominable mixture and spurious issue "due to intermarriage of black or mulatto men with English or any white woman”.

Other laws aimed at dividing whites and blacks by specifying special privileges to whites or denying blacks rights they had previously held were crucial. A 1705 law decreed that the livestock of African slaves was to be confiscated and given to poor free whites, while white bond laborers could continue to raise livestock. In 1723 the Virginia Assembly passed a law denying the right to vote to free African-Americans with property. Earlier laws had already prohibited free African-Americans from holding public office or witnessing against a white person and free African- Americans were prohibited from lifting a hand against a "Christian, not being a negro or mulatto.

This and similar laws legislated different social status for whites and blacks of the same economic status. Thus, over the course of fifty years, in colonial Virginia, the system of white supremacy emerged that has lasted to this day.

As the number of African slaves increased and the percentage of free European American laborers rose, the white small land holders and tenant farmers were drafted into white militia, organized to prevent African slave insurrections. Systems of rewards encouraged whites to turn in any runaways. Although whites remained impoverished in large numbers, most felt no affinity with the African slaves who suffered under the same system.

Defining Whiteness Through Immigration Policy

Immigration and naturalization policies were, and continue to be, a significant factor in determining who "looks" white. Most people are familiar with the anti-miscegenation laws, but there were others that affected marriage as well. Unseen practices, segregation, laws restricting and regulating marriages between whites and blacks, and immigration and naturalization policies worked together to determine which physical characteristics went into the mix we see as white.

This struggle was enacted amidst the turmoil of industrialization and the dissolution of slavery with the ensuing structuring of a new method for maintaining racial oppression. The point here is that once those who were judged white for immigration purposes were here, they became citizens and despite possible hostile reception, had the opportunity to gradually adopt the practices of whiteness, to be accepted as white, and to become entitled to the unearned systemic advantages.

Urban/Suburban Segregation

Today we inhabit a landscape in which urban and suburban areas figure more prominent than rural areas. Urban areas are commonly understood to contain ghettos where blacks struggle amid crime and poverty while in the suburbs white families raise children in a clean and pleasant areas.
But in actuality the racial boundaries were shaped by Federal policies, agencies such as the FHA (Federal Housing Authority) and VA (Veterans Administration), banks, and real estate developers. The FHA and VA were key agencies after the war in making it possible for young, first time buyers to enter the housing market. The FHA also loaned money to builders, to enable them to build large tracts of low-cost housing. Many city dwellers who had previously been unable to buy were able to buy in the suburbs with a lower monthly housing expense than they had as renters.

Theoretically, VA loans were available to all GIs and the FHA was intended to assist all first time buyers, but African-Americans were seldom able to obtain loans. And even if African- Americans had been able to obtain a loan, most suburban developments had restrictive covenants, which meant owners were blocked from selling to blacks. As Brodkin describes it: The FHA believed in racial segregation. Throughout its history, it publicly and actively promoted restrictive covenants. Before the war, these forbade sales to African-Americans. FHA underwriting manuals openly insisted on racially homogenous neighborhoods, and their loans were made only in white neighborhoods .... With the federal government behind them, virtually all developers refused to sell to African- Americans.

Blocked from entering suburbia, why didn't African-Americans use FHA and VA loans to purchase property in cities? These agencies, as well as most banks, followed a practice called redlining. Neighborhoods were rated according to the risk associated with investing in them. High ratings went to white areas, particularly suburbs or wealthy urban areas. The lowest ratings (red) went to black, non-white, or working class neighborhoods or neighborhoods in transition.
Blacks were blocked from purchasing homes, either in suburbia or in urban centers. Those who did already own homes in the cities were unable to secure loans for home improvements. As an additional blow, the Federal government began to implement urban renewal, which tore down entire neighborhoods or separated them with newly constructed railroads and freeways, leaving a blasted landscape where those who remained struggled to rebuild their community. What had once been ethnic neighborhoods were now urban ruins. Brodkin comments "[those left behind] faced an ideological assault that labeled their neighborhoods slums and called them slumdwellers."

Segregation is usually associated with the Jim Crow South, but as the previous examples illustrate, segregation has been created throughout the U.S. as the outcome of a variety of factors--homestead acts, terrorism and violence, immigration policies, guidelines followed by mortgage institutions, and real estate development programs such as urban renewal, among others.

Segregation constructs whiteness in numerous dimensions.

On the level of social interactions segregation makes it possible for many white people to live their lives with few interactions of any kind with blacks and often no peer or friendship relations. This isolation encourages the perpetuation of white supremacist ideologies and continues the invisibility of whiteness in both cultural and behavioral norms. Hale argues that segregation developed in the South as a means of removing the invisible belief that blacks were suited only to slavery.

Not only did white people continue to inhabit the "better" parts of town, but forcing all black people to use inferior facilities meant even uneducated, poor whites could continue to feel superior to educated, well-spoken blacks. Within whiteness, white people feel entitled to live in safe, clean, well-maintained neighborhoods and believe that such neighborhoods are a reflection of the quality people living in them--white people.

The poverty and homelessness they see on the streets as portrayed by the dominant group are the only image they have of black neighborhoods, an image reinforced by the media.

Property in such neighborhoods is valued below property in all white neighborhoods; or, to put it another way, white neighborhoods are valued more by economic institutions, real estate agencies, and certainly by white homebuyers. So property of most blacks does not appreciate at the same rates as that purchased by white people in white neighborhoods and, if purchased in a changing neighborhood, may depreciate in value if more white people move out. In this way, whiteness is socially constructed to economically benefit white people. Today "white flight" and suburbanization continue, but gentrification is another factor in establishing neighborhood demographics. How are the economic, social, and political forces behind gentrification constructing whiteness in the twenty first century? This is a question that deserves to be studied.

With the flood of immigration beginning with the Irish Famine in (1845), the Irish began to move into work traditionally performed by free blacks--industrial and service occupations such as longshoring, coachmen, houseservants and waiters in restaurants. They got a start by undercutting the African-American workers' wages. By the 1850s Irish had made major inroads into these occupations. The lower wages may have been a start but doesn't fully explain how, by the 1860s, the Irish controlled, for example, drayage and longshore work in New York City. They also had a firm place in trade unions, for example, the boilermakers, masons, stone cutters, bricklayers, printers, coopers, and more. In Philadelphia they dominated construction trades. However, Ignatiev points out the success of these Irish male workers was made possible, in large part, through the U.S. system of racial privilege.

The political context for the Irishmen's climb into the skilled trades includes the increasing controversy over slavery. Having lost the support of many Northern merchants and industrialists, the Southern slaveholders recognized the need of obtaining Northern labor support. They enlisted this support through the Democratic party. It was anti-nativist, which attracted the Irish. But together with the party's plank for an open door to immigration came a pro-slavery plank. In support of slavery, the party stirred up fears that freed slaves would mobilize to take over white men's jobs. In 1844, Henry Clay of Virginia gave instructions for the writing of a pamphlet to be used in his campaign for President.

Being freed, blacks would enter into competition with the free labor; with the American, the Irish and the German; reduce his wages; be confounded with him and reduce his moral and social standing ... " As the Democratic party began to gain political power, party members were rewarded through labor contracts and employment. Once the Irish had a foothold, gained through political patronage or undercutting wages, they utilized various tactics to drive the remaining African-American workers off the job and bring in more Irish.

African-Americans are having this problem with Mexicans today. For example, continuing the practice begun in colonial times, Irish and other European American workers refused to work with black workers. This was particularly effective in driving skilled black artisans and mechanics out of the trades and during the period from 1830 to the Civil War, the socioeconomic position of free blacks deteriorated, in part because of this practice.

The Irish also used violence and threats of violence to force African-Americans out of the workforce. The history of the Irish men finding and fighting their way into the trades illustrates how whiteness creates a world where newcomers see two choices--become white and gain economic benefits or remain not-quite-white, with grim economic prospects and the same social position as degraded blacks.

The GI Bill of Rights is another example of an invisible asset of white male workers. Brodkin describes it as "the most massive affirmative action program in history" --one that helped European American men. The bill provided financial support during job searches, small loans for starting up businesses, home loans, and financial assistance for attending colleges and technical schools, including tuition and living expenses. It was enacted at the end of W.W. II when massive numbers of soldiers were returning to the workforce, war production was closing down, and the economic boom that would require increasing numbers of managerial, technical, and clerical workers was just beginning. The bill is particularly associated with college education to hire Veterans as skilled or professional workers. African-Americans need a plan of this magnitude.

Where to Go From Here:

I wrote this paper to bring awareness to the complex array of forces that comprise white supremacy and that have worked together to create "white" people and then distinguish them from non¬white people throughout the course of American history and continuing today. The social construction of whiteness does not proceed along only one front, but is occurring constantly in the social, cultural, economic, political, legal, educational, and economic arena. I have touched on only a few arenas in which whiteness is constructed: land and home ownership and labor within the economic arena, the creation of a racial system of social stratification in colonial Virginia and immigration to the U.S. within the legal arena, and all of these as affected by government policies and institutions within the political arena.

Notably absent from this paper are examples of how whiteness is constructed and maintained within educational institutions, the judicial and penal system, electoral politics and voting, and health care. And even as I refer to these various arenas, using common vocabulary that breaks our society down as a whole into distinct parts, I am aware that nothing ever takes place in one arena only.
What remains undeniable is the inequitable distribution of wealth and income, and the inequitable distribution of power, defined as the ability to influence outcome. The distribution is inequitable in regard to race, and also within the "white" category (and other racial categories as well). Those of us who choose to work for social justice, for a more equitable distribution of wealth, income, and power, can benefit from an understanding of how we have arrived at the current situation.

We also need to understand how whiteness is constantly shifting, remaking itself as necessary to counter our efforts to undermine the system of racial oppression at its heart.

As a white, middle-class woman I'm finding that my study of white privilege and the social construction of white supremacy is, contrary to what many white people assume, not at all guilt inducing. Rather, the more I learn, the better qualified I feel to engage with the dominant culture in an effort to rewrite the system of white supremacy and award African-Americans reparations to ease the tension and create balance with harmony and justice among all people.


White People need to acknowledge Benefits of Unearned Privilege
By Robert Jensen
[Note: This article in support of reparations appeared in the Baltimore Sun Newspaper and was written by a Caucasian professor of journalism at the U of Texas.
He shows what white privilege is and how it is an injustice in society]

I'm sitting in my University of Texas office, talking to a very bright and very conservative white student about affirmative action in college admissions, which he opposes and I support. The student says he wants a level playing field with no unearned advantages for anyone. I ask him whether he thinks that being white has its advantages in the United States. Have either of us, I ask, ever benefited from being white in a world run mostly by white people? Yes, he concedes, there is something real and tangible we could call white privilege.

So if we live in a world of white privilege - unearned white privilege - how does that affect your notion of a level playing field? I asked. He paused for a moment and said, "That really doesn't matter". That statement, I suggested to him, reveals the ultimate white privilege: The privilege to acknowledge that you have unearned privilege but to ignore what it means. That exchange led me to rethink the way I talk about race and racism with students. It drove home the importance of confronting the dirty secret that we white people carry around with us every day: in a world of white privilege, some of what we have is unearned. I think much of both the fear and anger that comes up around discussions of affirmative action has its roots in that secret. So these days, my goal is to talk open and honestly about white supremacy and white privilege.

White privilege, like any social phenomena, is complex. In a white supremacist culture, all white people have privilege, whether or not they are overtly racist themselves. There are general patterns, but such privilege plays out differently depending on context and other aspects of one's identity (in my case, being male gives me other kinds of privileges). Rather than tell others how white privilege has played out in their lives, I talk about how it has affected me.
I am as white as white gets in this country. I am of northern European heritage and I was raised in North Dakota, one of the whitest states in this country. I grew up in a virtually all-white world surrounded by racism, both personal and institutional. Because I didn't live near a reservation, I didn't have exposure to the states only numerically significant nonwhite population, American Indians.

I have struggled to resist that racist training and the racism of my culture. I like to think I have changed, even though I routinely trip over the lingering effects of that internalized racism and the institutional racism around me. But no matter how much I "fix" myself, one thing never changes - I walk through the world with white privilege. What does that mean?

Perhaps most importantly, when I seek admission to a university, apply for a job, or hunt for an apartment, I don't look threatening. Almost all of the people evaluating me look like me they are white. I am one of them. I am not dangerous. Even when I voice critical opinions, I am cut some slack; After all, I'm white.

My flaws are also more easily forgiven because I am white. Some complain that affirmative action has meant the university is straddled with mediocre minority professors. I have no doubt there are minority faculty who are mediocre, though I don't know very many. As Henry Louis Gates Jr. once pointed out, if affirmative action policies were in place for the next hundred years, it's possible that at the end of that time the university could have as many mediocre minority professors as it has mediocre white professors. That isn't meant as an insult to anyone, but it's a simple observation that white privilege has meant that scores of second-rate white professors have slid through the system because their flaws were overlooked out of solidarity based on race, as well as on gender, class and ideology.

Some people resist the assertions that the United States is still a biter racist society and that racism has real effects on real people. But white folks have long cut other white folks a break. I know, because I am one of them. I am not a genius - as I like to say, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I have been teaching full time for six years and I've published a reasonable amount of scholarship. Some of it is the unexceptional stuff one chums out to get tenure, and some of it, I would argue, whether or not it is worth reading. I worked hard, and I like to think that I'm a fairly decent teacher. Every once in a while, I leave my office at the end of the day feeling like I really accomplished something. When I cash my paycheck, I don't feel guilty. But, all that said, I know I did not get where I am by merit alone. I benefited from among other things, white privilege. That doesn't mean that I don't deserve my job, or that if I weren't white I would never have gotten the job. It simply means that all through my life, I have soaked up benefits for being white.
All my life I have been hired for jobs by white people. I was accepted for graduate school by white people. Then I was hired for a teaching position by the predominantly white University of Texas, headed by a white president, in a college headed by a white dean and in a department with a white chairman, which at the time had one nonwhite tenured professor. I have worked hard to get where I am, and I work hard to stay there. But to feel good about myself, and my work, I do not have to believe that "merit" as defined by white people in a white country, alone got me here. I can acknowledge that in addition to all that hard work, I got a significant boost from white privilege. At one time in my life, I would not have been able to say that, because I needed to believe my success in life was due solely to my individual talent and effort. I saw myself as the heroic American, the rugged individualist. I was so deeply seduced by the cultures mythology that I couldn't see the fear that was binding me to those myths.

Like all white Americans, I was living with the fear that maybe I didn't really deserve my success, that maybe luck and privilege had more to do with it than brains and hard work. I was afraid I wasn't heroic or rugged, that I wasn't special. I let go of some of that fear when I realized that, indeed, I wasn't special but that I was still me. What I do well, I can still take pride in, even when I know the rules under which I work are still stacked in my benefit. Until we let go of the fiction that people have complete control over their fate - that we can will ourselves to be anything we choose - then we will live with that fear.

White privilege is not something I get to decide whether I want to keep. Every time I walk into the store at the same time as a black man and the security guard follows him and leaves me alone to shop, I am benefiting from white privilege. There is not space here to list all the ways in which white privilege plays in our daily lives, but it is clear that I will carry this privilege with me until the day white supremacy is erased from this society.

[More Thoughts on why the System of White Privilege is Wrong]

White privilege shapes the United States. By writing about the policies of white privilege-and listening to the folks who have responded to that article-I have had to face one more ways that privilege runs deep in my life, and it makes me uncomfortable. The discomfort tells me I might be on the right track.

As a result of that article, I find a variety of folks who want to talk about race. I learned not only more about my own privilege, but more about why many white folks can't come to terms with the truism I offer in that article: White people, whether overtly racist or not, benefit from living in a world mostly run by white people that has been built on the land and the backs of non-white people.

The reactions varied from racist rantings, to deeply felt expressions of pain and anger, to declarations of solidarity. But probably the most important response I got was from non-white folks, Predominantly African-Americans, who said something, like this: "Of course there is white privilege. I've been pointing it out to my white friends and co-workers for years. It is not funny that no one listens to me, but everyone takes notice when a white guy says it".

My voice gets heard in large part because I am a white man with a Ph.D. who holds a professional job with status. In most settings, I speak with the assumption that people will not only listen, but will take me seriously. I speak with the assumption that my motive will not be challenged; I can rely on the perception of me as a neutral authority, someone whose observations can be trusted.
Every time I open my mouth, I draw on, and in some ways reinforce, my privilege, which is in large part tied to race. Right now, I want to use that privilege to acknowledge the many non-white people who took the time to tell me about the enduring realities of racism in the United States. Then I want to talk to the white people who misunderstand my intentions, which are well and lean towards truth and reconciliation.

[The responses of my white critics broke down into these four basic categories around the following thoughts]

1. White privilege doesn't exist because affirmative action has made being white a disadvantage. Response: Extremely limited attempts to combat racism, such as affirmative action, do virtually nothing to erase the white privilege built over 500 years that pervades our society. As a friend of mine says, the only disadvantage to being white is that it so often prevents people from understanding racial issues. 2. White privilege exists, but it can't be changed because it is natural for any group to favor its own, and besides, the worst manifestations of racism are over. Response: This approach makes human choices appear outside of human control, which is a dodge to avoid moral and political responsibility to do something about the injustice (white privilege) we continue to live with.
3. White privilege exists, and that's generally been a good thing because white Europeans have
civilized the world. Along the way some bad things may have happened, and we should take care to be nice to non-whites to make up for that by awarding them reparations. Response:
These folks often argued the curiously but familiar contradictory position that (1) non-whites and their cultures are not inferior, but (2) white/European culture is superior. As for the civilizing effect of Europe, we might consider 5 centuries of inhumane, brutal colonialism and World Wars I and II, and then ask what civilized means. The African culture has been distorted and requires reparations as a solution for that problem.
4. White Privilege exists, because whites are inherently superior, and I am a weakling and traitor for suggesting otherwise. Response: The Klan isn't dead and racism is alive. So, I cannot, and indeed should not, feel either guilty or proud about being white, because it is a state of being I have no control over. However, as a member of society-I have an obligation not simply to enjoy the privilege that comes with being white but to study and understand it, and work towards a more just world in which such unearned privilege is eliminated.
Some of my critics said that such a goal is ridiculous; after all, people have unearned privileges of all kinds. Several people pointed that out, for example, tall people have unearned privilege in basketball, and we don't ask tall people to stop playing basketball nor do we eliminate their advantage.
The obvious difference is that racial categories are invented; they carry privilege or disadvantage only because people of power create and maintain the privilege for themselves at the expense of others. The privilege is rooted in violence and maintained through that violence as well as more subtle means.
It would be a drab and boring world if we eliminated individual differences, but we can work with others to change the world to erase the effects of differences that have been created by one group to keep others down. So, I don't feel guilty about being white in a white supremacist society, but I feel an especially strong moral obligation to engage in collective political activity to try to change the society because I benefit from the injustice that has developed in our nation. It takes only a bit of empathy to listen and a bit of courage to act.


THE VICTIMS REPARATIONS GUIDELINES - BASIC PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES ON THE RIGHT TO A REMEDY AND REPARATIONS FOR VICTMS OF VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMANITARIAN LA W
(Rev. 15 August 2003) Background
The Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, in its resolution 1989/13, decided to entrust the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Theo van Boven, with the task of undertaking a study concerning the right to restitution, compensation and rehabilitation for victims of gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. In 1993, Mr. van Boven submitted the study in his final report to the Sub-Commission (FJCN.4/Sub.2/1993/8). The Commission on Human Rights, in its resolution 1994/35, welcomed the study and regarded the proposed basic principles and guidelines contained in the study of the Special Rapporteur as a useful basis for giving priority to the question of restitution, compensation and rehabilitation. In accordance with the Sub-Commission resolution 1996/28, the Secretary-General transmitted to the Commission the revised draft of basic principles and guidelines prepared by Mr. van Boven
(FJCN.4/1997 1104, annex).
In accordance with Commission resolution 1998/43, Mr. M. Cherif Bassiouni was appointed as independent expert to prepare a revised version of the draft of basic principles and guidelines, taking into account the views and comments provided by States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. In its resolution 1999133, the Commission noted with appreciation the report of the independent expert (FJCN.4/1999/65). In 2000. Mr. Bassiouni submitted the final report containing a revised version of the basic principles and guidelines (FICN.4/2000/62) to the Commission at its fifty¬sixth session. In preparing the revised version of the principles and guidelines, the independent expert benefited from the foundation provided by prior reports as well as comments made by various Member States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Additionally, Mr. Bassiouni held two consultative meetings in Geneva for all interested Member States, intergovernmental and non¬governmental organizations and comments made during those meetings were taken into account in formulating the principles and guidelines.
On the basis of Commission resolutions 2000/41 and 2002144, the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) circulated the text of the principles and guidelines and comments were received from Member States along with intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.

In accordance with Commission resolution 2002/44, the OHCHR convened with the cooperation of the government of Chile, an international consultation in Geneva for all interested Member States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, with a view to finalizing the principles and guidelines (FJCN.4/2000/62). The consultation was chaired by Mr. Alejandro Salinas (Chile), and benefited from the expert guidance of the mandated authors of the principles and guidelines, Mr. van Boven and Mr. Bassiouni. Following presentations by both experts, the participants at the consultation reviewed the draft principles and guidelines and discussed follow-up to the consultative meeting. The Chairperson-Rapporteur submitted to the Commission at its fifty-ninth session a report on the consultative meeting,' inter alia recommending that the Commission on Human Rights establish an appropriate and effective mechanism with the objective of finalizing the elaboration of the set of "Basic principles and guidelines on the right to a remedy and reparations for victims of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law."

In its resolution 2003/34, the Commission took note of the report of the Chairperson- Rapporteur of the consultative meeting (FlCN.4/2003/63).

In accordance with Commission resolution 2003/34, the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the consultative meeting, in consultation with the independent experts, Mr. van Boven and Mr. Bassiouni, prepared a revised version of the "Basic principles and guidelines on the right to a remedy and reparations for victims of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law," taking into account the opinions and commentaries of States and of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and the results of the consultative meeting.
In resolution 2003/34, the Commission further requested the OHCHR to hold, with the cooperation of interested Government, a second consultative meeting for all interested Member States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations with a view to finalizing the "Basic principles and guidelines on the right to a remedy and reparations for victims of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law" and, if appropriate, to consider options for the adoption of these principles and guidelines prior to government approval and/or a majority yes Plebiscite vote among blacks to endorse the Five Phase Plan. The second consultative meeting should have, as a basis for its work, the comments submitted, the report of the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the first consultative meeting, and the revised version of the principles and guidelines prepared by the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the first consultative meeting in consultation with the independent experts.
Following is the revised version of the principles and guidelines.
Preamble
The Commission on Human Rights
Recalling the provisions providing a right to a remedy for victims of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law found in numerous international instruments, in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at article 8, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights at article 2, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination at article 6, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment at article 11, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child at article 39,
Recalling the provisions providing a right to reparations for victims of violations of international human rights found in regional conventions, in particular the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights at article 7, the American Convention on Human Rights at article 25, and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms at article 13,
Recalling the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power emanating from the deliberations of the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, and resolution 40/34 of 29 November 1985 by which the General Assembly adopted the text recommended by the Congress,
Reaffirming the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, including that victims should be treated with compassion and respect for their dignity, have their right to access to justice and redress mechanisms fully respected, and that the establishment, strengthening and expansion of national funds for compensation to victims should be encouraged, together with the expeditious development of appropriate rights and remedies for victims,

Recalling resolution 1989/57 of 24 May 1989 of the Economic and Social Council, entitled "Implementation of the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power," as well as Council resolution 1990/22 of 24 May 1990, entitled "Victims of crime and abuse of power,"
Noting that in resolution 827 (1993) of 25 May 1993 in which it adopted the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the Security Council decided that "the work of the International Tribunal shall be carried out without prejudice to the right of the victims to seek, through appropriate means, compensation for damages incurred as a result of violations of international humanitarian law,"
Noting also that the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court requires the establishment of "principles relating to reparations to, or in respect of, victims, including restitution, compensation and rehabilitation" and requires the Assembly of State Parties to establish a trust fund for the benefit of victims of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court and of the families of such victims, and mandates the Court "to protect the safety, physical and psychological well-being, dignity and privacy of victims" and to permit the participation of victims at all "stages of the proceedings determined to be appropriate by the Court,"
Emphasizing that the principles and guidelines do not create new substantive international or domestic legal obligations but identify mechanisms, modalities, procedures and methods for the implementation of existing legal obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law,
Recalling that international law contains the obligation to prosecute perpetrators of certain international crimes in accordance with the requirements of national law or as provided for in the statutes of international judicial organs and that the duty to prosecute reinforces the international legal obligations to be carried out in accordance with national legal requirements and procedures and supports the concept of complementarities,
Noting that international human rights law and international humanitarian law have developed along separate legal and historic tracks, which nevertheless overlap in some respects and provide co¬extensive protections of victims, though not necessarily in the same manner or using the same terminology,
Noting also that conflicts of a non-international character as well as internal conflicts that have occurred since the Second World War reveal that a high level of victimization has occurred at the hands of non-State actors and that the (victims of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law require the same protections as other victims, not only on the basis of principles of State responsibility but also on the basis of social and human solidarity),
Noting further, as established in the Declaration of Basic Principle of Justice for victims of crime and Abuse of Power, that victims of serious abuses of political and economic power are entitled to the protection of their rights as other victims,
Noting further those contemporary forms of victimization,_ while essentially directed against individuals, are nevertheless also directed against classes of persons or identifiable groups of persons who are targeted collectively and who should also be entitled to the protection of their collective rights and to engage in collective action,

Recognizing that, in honoring the victims' right to benefit from remedies and reparations, the international community keeps faith and human solidarity with victims, survivors and future human generations, and reaffirms the international legal principles of accountability, justice and the rule of law,
Convinced that, in adopting a victim-oriented point of departure, the community, at local, national and international levels, affirms its human solidarity and compassion with victims of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law as well as with humanity at large,
Decides to adopt the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparations for Victims of Violations of international Human Rights and Humanitarian Law as follows:
I. OBLIGATION TO RESPECT, ENSURE THE RESPECT FOR AND ENFORCE
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMANITARIAN LAW
1. Every State has the obligation to respect, ensure respect for and enforce international human
rights and humanitarian law norms that are, inter alia:
(a) Contained in treaties to which it is a State party;
(b) Found in customary international law; or
(c) Incorporated in its domestic law.
2. To that end, if they have not already done so, States shall ensure that domestic law is
Consistent with international legal obligations by:
(a) Incorporating norms of international human rights and humanitarian law into their
domestic law, or otherwise implementing them in their domestic legal system;
(b) Adopting appropriate and effective judicial and administrative procedures and other
appropriate measures that provide fair, effective and prompt access to justice;
(c) Making available adequate, effective and prompt reparations as defined below; and
(d) Ensuring, in the case that there is a difference between national and international norms,
that the norm that provides the greatest degree of protection is applied.
II. SCOPE OF THE OBLIGATION
3. The obligation to respect, ensure respect for and enforce international human rights and
humanitarian law includes, inter alia, a State's duty to:
(a) Take appropriate legal, administrative and/or other actions such as agreeing on a monetary
settlement that may be necessary to prevent future violations or as compensation for transgressions;
(b) Effectively investigate violations and, where appropriate take action against the violator in accordance with domestic and international law;
(c) Provide victims with equal and effective access to justice irrespective of who may be the ultimate bearer of responsibility for the violation; (d) Afford appropriate remedies to victims; and (e) Provide for or facilitate reparations to victims.

III. VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMANITARIAN
LAW THAT CONSTITUTE CRIMES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

4. Violations of international human rights and humanitarian law that constitute crimes under international law carry the duty to prosecute persons alleged to have committed these violations, to punish perpetrators adjudged to have committed these violations, and to cooperate with and assist States and appropriate international judicial organs in the investigation and prosecution of these violations and to award punitive damages to the victims.
5. To that end, States shall incorporate within their domestic law appropriate provisions, consistent with international human rights law, providing for universal jurisdiction where a nexus exists with the enforcing State over crimes under international law. Moreover, States shall facilitate extradition or surrender of offenders to other States and to international judicial bodies and to (provide judicial assistance and other forms of cooperation in the pursuit of international justice, including assistance to and protection of victims and witnesses, consistent with international human rights legal standards).
IV. STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS
6. Consistent with international law, statutes of limitations shall not apply for prosecuting
violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
7. Statutes of limitations for prosecuting other violations or pursuing civil claims should not unduly restrict, procedurally or in other ways, the ability of a victim to pursue a claim against the perpetrator, and should not apply with respect to periods during which no effective remedies exist for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
V. VICTIMS OF VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND
HUMANITARIAN LAW
8. A person is a "victim" where, as a result of acts or omissions that constitute a violation of international human rights or humanitarian law norms, that person(s), individually or collectively, suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss, or impairment of that person's fundamental legal rights. A "victim" may also be a legal personality, a dependant or a member of the immediate family or household of the direct victim, as well as a person who in intervening to assist a victim or prevent the occurrence of further violations, has suffered physical, mental, or economic harm.
9. A person's status as a "victim" should not depend on any relationship that may exist or may have existed between the victim and the perpetrator, or whether the perpetrator of the violation has been identified, apprehended, prosecuted, or convicted.
VI. TREATMENT OF VICTIMS
10. (Victims should be treated) by the State and, where applicable, by intergovernmental and non- governmental organizations and private enterprises, (with compassion and respect for their dignity and human rights and appropriate measures should be taken to ensure their safety and privacy as well as that of their families). The State should ensure that its domestic laws, as much as possible, provide that a victim who has suffered violence or trauma should benefit from special consideration and care to avoid his or her retraumatization in the course of legal and administrative procedures designed to provide justice and reparations.

VII. VICTIMS' RIGHT TO A REMEDY
11. Remedies for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law include the victim's right to:
(a) Access to justice;
(b) Reparations for harm suffered; and
(c) Access to the factual information concerning the violations.
VIII. VICTIMS' RIGHTS TO ACCESS JUSTICE
12. A victim's right of access to justice includes all available judicial, administrative and
other public proceedings, mechanisms and modalities that exist under domestic laws, as well as under international law. Obligations arising under international law to secure the individual or collective right to access justice and fair and impartial proceedings should be made available under domestic laws. To that end, States should:
(a) Make known, through public and private mechanisms, all available remedies for
violations of international human rights and humanitarian law;
(b) Take measures to minimize the inconvenience to victims, protect their privacy as
appropriate, and ensure their safety from intimidation and retaliation, as well as that of their families and witnesses, before, during, and after judicial administrative, or other proceedings that affect the interests of victims;
(c) Facilitate assistance to victims seeking access to justice and reparations.
(d) Make all appropriate diplomatic and legal means available to ensure that victims can
exercise their rights to a remedy and reparations for violations of international human rights or humanitarian law.
13. In addition to individual access to justice, adequate provisions should also be made to allow
groups of victims to present collective claims for reparations and to receive reparations collectively.
14. The right to an adequate, effective and prompt remedy against a violation of international human rights or humanitarian law includes all available international processes in 'Which an individual may have legal standing and should be without prejudice to any other domestic remedies.
IX. VICTIMS' RIGHTS TO REPARATIONS
15. Adequate, effective and prompt reparations shall be intended to promote justice by redressing violations of international human rights or humanitarian law. Reparations should be proportional to the gravity of the violations and the harm suffered.
16. In accordance with its domestic laws and international legal obligations, a State shall provide reparations to victims for its acts or omissions constituting violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
17. In cases where the violation is not attributable to the State, the party responsible for the violation should provide reparations to the victim or to the State if the State has already provided reparations to the victim.
18. In the event that the party responsible for the violation is unable or unwilling to meet these obligations, the State should endeavor to provide reparations to victims who have sustained bodily injury or impairment of physical or mental health as a result of these violations and to the families, in particular, dependants of persons who have died or become physically or mentally incapacitated as a result of the violations. To that end, States should endeavor to establish national funds for reparations to victims and seek other sources of funds wherever necessary to supplement these.
19. A State shall enforce its domestic judgments for reparations against private individuals or
entities responsible for the violations. States shall endeavor to enforce valid foreign judgments for reparations against private individuals or entities responsible for the violations.
20. In cases where the State or Government under whose authority the violation occurred is no longer in existence, the State or Government successor in title should provide reparations to the victims.
X. FORMS OF REPARATIONS
21. In accordance with their domestic law and international obligations, and taking account of individual circumstances, States should provide victims of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law the following forms of reparations: restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, and satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition.
22. Restitution should, whenever possible, restore the victim to the original situation before the violations of international human rights or humanitarian law occurred. Restitution includes: restoration of liberty, legal rights, social status, family life and citizenship; return to one's place of residence; and restoration of employment and return of property.
23. Compensation should be provided for any economically assessable damage resulting from
violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, such as:
(a) Physical or mental harm, including pain, suffering and emotional distress;
(b) Lost opportunities, including education;
(c) Material damages and lost earnings, including loss of earning potential individually and
collectively;
(d) Harm to reputation or dignity; and

(e) Costs required for legal or expert assistance, medicines and medical services, and psychological and social services.
24. Rehabilitation should include medical and psychological care as well as legal and social
services.
25. Satisfaction should include, where applicable, any or all of the following:
(a) Cessation of continuing violations;

(b) Verification of the facts and full and public disclosure of the truth to the extent
that such disclosure does not cause further unnecessary harm or threaten the safety of the victim, witnesses, or others;

(c) The search for the bodies of those killed or for the disappeared, and assistance in the identification and reburial of the bodies in accordance with the cultural practices of the families and communities;

(d) An official declaration or a judicial decision restoring the dignity, reputation and legal
and social rights of the victims and of persons closely connected with the victims;

(e) Apology, including public acknowledgement of the facts and acceptance of responsibility;
(f) Judicial or administrative sanctions against persons responsible for the violations;
(g) Commemorations and tributes to the victims;
(h) Inclusion of an accurate account of the violations that occurred in international
human rights and humanitarian law training and in educational material at all levels.

26. Guarantees of non-repetition and prevention should include, where applicable, any or all of the following:
(a) Ensuring effective civilian control of military and security forces;
(b) Restricting the jurisdiction of military tribunals only to specifically military offences
committed by members of the armed forces;
(c) Strengthening the independence of the judiciary;
(d) Protecting persons in the legal, medical and health-care professions, the media, and
other related professions, and human rights defenders;
(e) Conducting and strengthening, on a priority and continued basis, human rights training
to all sectors of society, including law enforcement officials, as well as military and security forces in international humanitarian law;
(f) Promoting the observance of codes of conduct and ethical norms, in particular international standards, by public servants, including law enforcement, correctional, media, medical, psychological, social service and military personnel, as well as the staff of economic enterprises;
. (g) Creating mechanisms for monitoring inter-social conflict resolution and preventive social intervention.
XI. PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION
27. States should develop means of informing the general public and in particular victims of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law of the rights and remedies contained within these principles and guidelines and of all available legal, medical, psychological, social, administrative and all other services to which victims may have a right of access to.

XII. NON-DISCRIMINATION AMONG VICTIMS
28. The application and interpretation of these principles and guidelines must be consistent with internationally recognized human rights law and be without any adverse distinction founded on grounds such as race, color, gender, sex preference, age, language, religion, political or religious belief, national, ethnic or social origin, wealth, birth, family or other status, disability or health status.
XIII. NON-DEROGATION
29. Nothing in these principles or guidelines shall be construed as restricting or derogating from
any rights or obligations arising under international law.

Critical Parts of Reparations

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