How Some Slave Owners Received Reparations, But Not Black Americans

January 1st is the anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order declaring "that all persons held as slaves" within rebellious areas "are, and henceforward shall be free." However, fewer people know that Lincoln signed the <a href="https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/DCEmancipationAct.htm" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act</a> into law eight and a half months earlier, on April 16, 1862. Since enslavers in the nation's capital were unwilling to abolish slavery out of a sense of morality, the legislation enticed them to do so monetarily. Commissioners received 930 petitions, legally granting freedom to 2,989 enslaved people and paying $300 for each. While enslavers received financial compensation for their so-called "loss of property," newly freed Black Americans received nothing for their "loss of wages." Not one red cent. Zilch. Nada. <a href="https://medium.com/afrosapiophile/how-some-slave-owners-received-reparations-but-not-black-americans-a3656d693fa7">Click Here</a>