Washington Democrats back reparations in party platform

The Washington state Democratic Party platform adopted earlier this month states the party supports “both the study and implementation of reparative action” for chattel slavery in the U.S., in what is believed to be a first for a statewide party.

During the party’s convention in Spokane, more than 1,000 participating delegates voted unanimously to approve the party platform, which includes the study and implementation of reparations. According to Washington’s Democratic Party, it is the first time a state party has included the implementation of reparations in its official platform.

The party platform previously stated that reparations “must be studied as an avenue to address the systemic racism that persists throughout our institutions today.”

The convention took place the weekend after Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans. Juneteenth recognizes the day Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the enslaved people there over two years after it was issued.

“Democracy is never finished. That is the lesson of Juneteenth. While others seek to divide, Washington Democrats are choosing something different. Black history is America’s story – our country, at its best and at its worst, struggling to become what it promised to be,” state party Chair Shasti Conrad said after the platform was approved. “Our Party’s Platform is a statement of values and our Party has decided that we will continue the fight for justice for the descendants of enslaved Americans to right this historic wrong.”

Jesse Wineberry, a former state representative and chair of the Washington Equity Now Alliance, dressed as Colonial Patriot Robert Hemmings, to rally support among delegates to the convention to support the platform. Hemmings was an enslaved attendant to President Thomas Jefferson and half brother to Jefferson’s wife, Martha. Robert Hemmings was the first enslaved person legally freed by Jefferson after he negotiated his freedom.

“As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, we thank Chair Conrad and every Democratic delegate who voted unanimously for federal reparations for descendants of the U.S. enslaved,” Wineberry said in a statement. “Their slave labor was the down-payment for all of the freedoms we enjoy today.”

Washington Democrats Black Caucus Chair Satin Deseree Arnett called on other state parties and the Democratic National Committee to join Washington “by adopting slavery reparations into their respective platforms.”

In recent years, state lawmakers have taken steps to study and implement reparations programs.

Last year, lawmakers earmarked $300,000 in the state budget to study how reparations could be implemented in Washington. According to the Department of Commerce, the study will explore the “history and impact of slavery” in the U.S., and focus on the geography of the Washington and Oregon territories.

The study also will include different proposals to implement reparations, including cash payments, policy reforms, state-level investments and recommendations to reform state law. The study is expected to be completed next summer.

“The purpose of the study is twofold: first, to summarize and quantify the impact of slavery and other discriminatory injustices faced by victims of U.S. chattel slavery, and their dependents, with a specific focus on Washington as a territory and a state,” Marv Jones, project manager for the study, said in a May 8 update. “And secondly, to provide legislative policy recommendations for reparations that are rooted in evidence-based research and genealogical findings.”

The study has drawn pushback from Republican lawmakers who argued it could be unconstitutional and would be ineffective.

State Rep. Matt Marshall, a Republican from Eatonville, said in a column earlier this year there are “better ways to confront racial disparities and honor history that do not involve race-based payments and do not ignore budget limits.”

“Enforce civil rights laws in housing, employment, lending and education, so no one is denied opportunity because of race. Target investments at high-poverty communities because of need,” Marshall argued.

Marshall added that “those are the kinds of priorities most residents recognize as legitimate uses of their tax dollars.”