Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed sweeping racial justice legislation into law on Tuesday, creating a new reparations committee to study the history of slavery in the state and how it should be addressed.

The leftist move panders to her political base while the outcomes of such a committee are dubious at best.

“In New York, we like to think we’re on the right side of this. Slavery was a product of the South, the Confederacy,” Hochul grandstanded at the bill signing ceremony in New York City. “What is hard to embrace is the fact that our state also flourished from that slavery. It’s not a beautiful story, but indeed it is the truth.”

The law was passed in June. It mandates the examination of the institution of slavery in New York. The practice was abolished in the state in 1827.

(Video Credit: Governor Kathy Hochul)

“Today, we are continuing our efforts to right the wrongs of the past by acknowledging the painful legacy of slavery in New York,” Hochul declared in a press release. “We have a moral obligation to reckon with all parts of our shared history as New Yorkers, and this commission marks a critical step forward in these efforts.”

“The battle for civil rights was not below the Mason–Dixon line. The largest port of slave trade was in Charleston, South Carolina and Wall Street, New York,” the Rev. Al Sharpton proclaimed at the signing ceremony. “So this today starts a process of taking the veil off of northern inequality and saying we must repair the damage and it can be an example for this nation.”

Sharpton predicted that Hochul would be persecuted for signing the bill into law.

“I want to give credit to this governor for having the audacity and courage to do what others wouldn’t do. And I know she had to wrestle with it. And I know her political advisors told her it’s too risky,” the notorious race hustler stated. “But she did it because it’s right.”

First California, now New York.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) signs legislation creating a commission to study potential reparations for residents of African descent. Listen to the applaud. Clown world. pic.twitter.com/icxGqomEOL

— Freyja™ (@FreyjaTarte) December 20, 2023

“The nine-member commission will be required to deliver a report a year after its first meeting. Its recommendations could potentially include monetary compensation but would be non-binding. The panel’s findings are intended to spur policy changes, programs, and projects that attempt to remedy slavery’s harmful effects,” the Associated Press reported.

“The idea of using public money to compensate the descendants of enslaved people is almost certain to draw a backlash from some, including some white people who don’t believe they should have to pay for the sins of long-ago ancestors, and other ethnic groups that weren’t involved in the slave trade,” the news outlet added.

The three committee members will be appointed by Hochul and legislative leaders of the state Assembly and Senate. They will have 90 days to make their selection.

“This is not just about who we’re going to write a check to, and what the amount is,” Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie spuriously claimed. “It begins the conversation with one recognizing the issues that affected black people and descendants of slaves in this state.”

If the state follows through on reparations, the cost could be monstrous and New York is already pretty much broke.

Governor of NY, Kathy Hochul signed a bill aimed at giving reparations for slavery to people who never were slaves paid by the people who never owned slaves.

I live in a state run by a clowns nyc..streets over run with migrants and crime only getting worst day by day pic.twitter.com/xbwX02TEMw

— Wilsonxdi (@wilsonxdi) December 20, 2023

“The reparations of slavery were paid with the blood and lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans who fought to end slavery during the Civil War,” State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt pointed out.

“California in 2020 became the first state to create a reparations task force. The group handed its two-year report to state lawmakers in June, who then introduced a bill that would create an agency to carry out some of the panel’s more than 100 recommendations, including helping families with genealogical research. But turning those proposals into policies could be difficult, given the state is facing a heavy budget deficit,” the Associated Press noted.

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams has doubts about the measure. He asserts that some New York institutions are tied to “wealth that derived from exploiting the labor of enslaved people,” according to the media outlet.

“We have to reckon with that,” Adams commented during a City Hall news conference.

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