U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. first introduces H.R. 40, or the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act to Congress. Over four million Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and its colonies from 1619 to 1865, according to the bill. The bill encourages the creation of a commission that will study the social, political and economic impacts of slavery on living African-Americans and then make recommendations for “appropriate remedies to redress the harm inflicted.” Conyers writes that since 1989 he has re-introduced H.R. 40 to every Congress, and will continue to do so until it becomes law.

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(Photo: Reuters)