The development of the United States has been marked by conflict over questions of race. Our nation was formed only after Native Americans were displaced. The institution of slavery had as its underpinnings the belief in white supremacy, which we must condemn. In slavery's aftermath, people of color have borne the brunt of violence and discrimination. We must unequivocally condemn these evils, which continue to be a social problem of paramount significance.

The community of people of African ancestry whose family members were held in chattel slavery in what is now the United States of America have legitimate claims to reparations including monetary compensation for centuries of human rights violations, including the Transatlantic slave trade now recognized by the United Nations as a "crime against humanity."

We need to recognize that reparations are a debt (not charity) that is owed by our own and other nations and by the corporate institutions chartered under our laws to a collective of people.

The leadership on the question of what our nation owes to this process of right ought to come from the African American community, whose right to self-determination and autonomy to chart the path to healing we fully recognize.

We also must understand that until significant steps are taken to reverse the ongoing abuses; to end the criminalization of the Black and Brown communities.