The recent filing of federal class-action litigation alleging some U.S. corporations owe reparations to the descendants of slaves because they conspired with slave traders could soon push the long-running issue of reparations to a head. Reparations for slaves, which first came up in the 1870s, are long overdue, Simon Wiltz, a member of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, said on April 4.
But Wiltz, an architect in Houston, said it’s not too late for the federal government to try to replace the wealth it owes the descendants of slaves for the crime against humanity that slavery represents.
