Maryland is the home of Harriet Tubman, who was born a slave in 1822 and who has scores of descendants alive today. Sister Tubman, the Black Moses, famously said, “if I could have convinced more slaves that they were slaves, I could have freed thousands more.” She never got paid for her labor as an enslaved person or as a conductor of the Underground Railroad, or as a Union nurse, cook, and spy. In 1899, at the age of 77, her widow’s pension was increased from $8 a month to $20.
Wes Moore, the current governor of Maryland and the only Black governor in the country, owes his position in part to Sister Harriet and other Black sheroes and heroes whose uncompensated labor has built this nation. Their descendants are still living and can be identified. Despite this, Governor Moore has chosen to veto Senate Bill 587, a bill that would have established and funded the Commission on Reparations and a two-year study of, among other things, reparations to be paid to descendants of Maryland’s African slaves.
Senate Bill 587 was a top priority of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus and passed the House of Delegates with a 101-36 majority and a 32-13 majority in the Senate. In order to veto the bill Governor Moore had to ignore the wishes of the Legislative Black Caucus (of which he is a member) on an issue of importance to his and their constituents, which is not to say that a governor, any governor, should be expected to support everything that his or her constituents or colleagues in the legislature desire. After all, this is politics. But in this case, Governor Moore’s veto raises a question as to why he vetoed it in the first place. And his failure to recognize the potential adverse consequences of such a veto. Unless, of course, he intended to sell out his black constituents to curry nationwide favor with his white current and potential constituents. Politics again.
The bill states, in pertinent part, (2) . . . the Commission shall examine: (ii) types of benefits appropriate for reparations, including . . . monetary compensation . . . (iii) the history of slavery in Maryland and the number of individuals whose ancestors were enslaved in the state; . . . . (vi) the amount of monetary compensation recommended and the method calculating the amount ….”
Politics or not, the governor had to have a reason. In his veto message Governor Moore wrote: “. . . in light of the many important studies that have taken place on this issue over nearly three decades, now is the time to focus on the work itself: Narrowing the racial gap, expanding homeownership, uplifting entrepreneurs of color, and closing the foundational disparities that lead to inequality – from food insecurity to education.” No mention of reparations. Was he afraid to even utter the word reparations?
Rep John King of South Carolina, a person whom I have had the pleasure to work with and come to know as a man of courage and conviction uncharacteristic of most elected officials, noted in an Open Letter to the South Carolina Democratic Party that Governor Moore’s veto “. . .. was not just a policy decision—it was a painful dismissal of the ongoing struggle for justice that Black Americans continue to face across this country. It was a rejection of the very acknowledgment that the wounds of slavery still bleed into the lives of our people today. We cannot, in good conscience, elevate voices that silence or stall progress on issues as foundational and urgent as reparations.” I agree wholeheartedly..
It is only with the greatest reluctance and after long, careful consideration that I will say what Rep. King and others including the Legislative black caucus of Maryland have only implied. Governor Moore is a classic sellout. It pains me to refer to any of my brothers or sisters or anyone else as a sellout. But as the old saying goes, if the shoe fits, wear it. In this case, the shoe fits perfectly, and Governor Moore must wear it.
But what makes the governor a classic sellout?
- First, no matter what the governor’s position on reparations, he could have simply not acted, and the bill would have gone into effect by operation of law and without his signature. His veto was totally unnecessary and therefore obstructionist.
- Second, budget deficit considerations notwithstanding, an expenditure of $54,500 is a mere drop in the bucket in a $67.3 billion dollar spending plan for 2026.
- Third, he attempted to thwart the wishes of the House of Delegates and the Maryland Senate and their and his constituents most importantly the Legislative Black Caucus of which he is a member by a veto that is likely to be overridden since the legislature had a sufficient number of votes to override his making it an exercise in futility.
- Fourth, apparently the Governor wanted to make a statement. The question is, what statement did he want to make?
Governor Moore is seen by many as a rising star in the Democratic firmament and a serious contender for the nomination for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2028. Of course, he says he has no intention of running. He says that he is going all over the country to drum up business for Maryland – starting in South Carolina? Yeah right.
Could it be because of South Carolina’s first-in-the-nation Democratic Primary status and its large black voter base? Again, politics.
Be that as it may, one thing is clear: the issue of reparations for descendants of African slaves is a divisive one that is rapidly becoming the new third rail of politics. So that any intended candidate for president in 2028 would be wise to avoid contact with the third rail. But alas, the Governor is not running. So insult the House of Delegates and the Senate and your constituents to what purpose. This was the dismissal of the African American vote to curry favor with his potential white supporters who by and large are opposed to reparations for the descendants of African slaves.
A Pew Survey concluded in 2021 that while 77% of African Americans are in favor of reparations, only 18% of whites are in favor. At the same time, California, New York, Illinois, and North Carolina have passed some sort of reparations legislation. The momentum is growing.
Former President Obama, who did nothing to advance the fight for reparations during his two-term presidency, has since explained his stance. He said in 2021 that, while he felt that reparations were justified, “What I saw during my presidency was the politics of white resistance and resentment, the talk of welfare queens and the talk of the undeserving poor and the backlash against affirmative action,” he said, adding that “all that made the prospect of actually proposing any kind of coherent, meaningful reparations program struck me as, politically, not only a non-starter but potentially counterproductive.”Obama says reparations ‘justified’
I will allow the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland to have the final word:
“We are elected leaders in the state that enslaved renowned abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, and we convene in a State House that is less than a mile from the Annapolis City Dock – one of the nation’s earliest and most high-traffic ports of enslavement. We owe this bill to those who endured forced labor and all Black Marylanders impacted by enslavement, discrimination, and long term harm. As federal efforts to erase our history and attack the most vulnerable continue Marylanders need decisive courageous action at the state level.”
Caveat: Please do not take us for granted. We are no longer committed to a party or a person who will not fight for the 12 trillion dollars owed to the descendants of African slaves and you will never get to the white house without us.
