sold 272 people to Louisiana to save the university

from bankruptcy.

Among those that were sold were my ancestors.

That university would not be here today had it not been

for my grandparents.

That was a long time ago, but the effects of that

are still felt today.

There are disproportionate negative outcomes

for those who are descendants of slaves that can only

be explained by the fact that this enslavement happened,

reparation didn't happen, and now is the time.

In October, Georgetown University

announced that they would raise $400,000 a year

for the descendants of the 272 enslaved Americans

that were sold to Louisiana.

They said this money will be spent beginning

in the fall of 2020.

My family might be making history

in the United States.

I might become one of the first

in the history of America to receive reparations.

Mechanicville is the area that

is heavily populated with Georgetown descendants,

including myself where I grew up.

And Mechanicville is less than a half

a mile away from where the plantations were where

our ancestors were enslaved.

I mean, you had people on very low income.

Sometimes, they didn't have any income.

Some of us have done well if we were able to get out

and get an education, and a lot of us haven't.

And they could really use some assistance or help.

Mom?

Hm?

We might be the first that receive some form

of reparations for slavery.

It may start with you.

Well, I think it would be a wonderful thing.

Start out with me and then continue on with everybody

who would be in need.

There is so much I missed out on, but from the goodness

of God, I'm still here.

My mom — I will never forget — had one dress.

She'd wash that dress out at night

and hang it on the back of her chair

to the fireplace to dry to have

it to put on the next day.

And my mom — patches on top of patches.

So what do you think that —

just maybe one thing you think

that Georgetown should do?

Well, my house could be upgraded, for one thing.

In my community where I grew up,

reparations would definitely help.

If I was given reparations, I would definitely

set some of that money aside for my son's future.

My first thing is to get something

for the elderly people.

I would feel that my ancestors

are rejoicing in heaven.

It's $400,000.

For each family?

No.

[CHUCKLING]

It's just $400,000 for over 7,000 people.

Oh my.

Not much.

Do you think $400,000 comes close to what

we need as a people?

So it's $400,000.

Yes.

O.K., so the descendants that's living now—

you put that at how many, about 8,000?

There's about 8,000.

There's probably more.

Equal $50.

$50.

It's a slap in the face.

Not just a slap in the face, that's a kick in the behind

also.

Georgetown University is currently

deciding how this money will be spent,

but said it will go towards projects that support

descendant communities.

I think Georgetown has such an opportunity here

to take the lead on this.

I don't think they should go bankrupt,

but $400,000 is not going to do it.

Someone in authority at Georgetown

needs to come down and actually

meet with each descendant and see

what each descendant needs.

We don't need to make white people wrong.

We don't need to make Georgetown wrong.

We need to ask ourselves, what do

we need to do to ensure that all of Americans

have full access to every right

that it means to be an American?