US lawmakers will consider a bill to study paying reparations to descendants of enslaved people on Wednesday, which could open the door for a potential vote on an issue that has gained momentum in recent years.
On April 14 the House Judiciary Committee will hold the first-ever markup – the process by which committees debate and amend legislation – on a bill that creates a commission to study and develop reparation proposals for Black people.
Friday's announcement comes during the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is accused of killing Black man George Floyd, whose death triggered nationwide protests highlighting the country's racial injustice.
The bill was first introduced more than 30 years ago but never advanced.
It addresses the period of slavery and discrimination in the United States from 1619 to the present day, and will propose remedies including financial reparations.
"The historic markup of HR 40 is intended to continue a national conversation about how to confront the brutal mistreatment of African Americans during chattel slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and the enduring structural racism that remains endemic to our society today," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said in a statement on Friday.
Americans still live with racial disparities in access to education, health care, housing, employment and other social provisions attributable to the damaging legacy of slavery and government-sponsored racial discrimination, he added.
President Joe Biden has repeatedly addressed the need to end systemic racism, and the White House has expressed support for the commission.
Its intent is not to divide, lawmakers said, but to continue efforts already begun in some states and cities during recent years of racial reckoning.
House Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee, the bill's sponsor, said that by passing HR 40, Congress could "start a movement toward the national reckoning we need to bridge racial divides."
Last month, local lawmakers in Evanston, a small city outside Chicago, voted to give funds to Black residents as a form of reparations for housing discrimination, thereby becoming the first city in America to take such action.
Under the plan, residents who qualify will receive $25,000 to use towards home improvements or mortgage assistance.
The move has been closely followed in the United States, and could become a model for elsewhere in the country as racial injustice has risen up the political and public agenda.
The American Civil Liberties Union hailed Friday's announcement, saying the markup "shows that our elected officials are finally listening to the will of the millions who demand that we begin to repair the communities most harmed by racism and oppression."
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Third-place play-off: New Zealand v Wales, Friday, 1pm
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
