Where we stand
We support a continued, open national discussion
Slavery is a documented part of American history, and its effects did not end when it ended. That is not a partisan statement; it is a historical one. What the country should do about those lasting effects is a question Americans have debated since Emancipation — and, we believe, a question worth debating still.
Our position is straightforward: we support a continued, open, and respectful national discussion on addressing the lasting effects of slavery in America. We do not believe this conversation belongs to one party, one region, or one community. It belongs to the country. A movement built on the dignity of work is obligated to take seriously the fact that, for roughly two and a half centuries, millions of Americans' work was taken from them entirely — their labor, their wages, and their freedom.
We also believe how this conversation happens matters as much as whether it happens. It should be grounded in documented history, conducted with respect for every American, and aimed at repair — not at blame, and not at division. Nobody alive today held another person in bondage. Every American alive today inherits the country that slavery helped build. Both of those things are true at once, and an honest discussion holds them together.
The historical record
Why this belongs on a working-majority platform
This organization exists for people who work for a living. Slavery was, among its many cruelties, the largest uncompensated labor system in American history. Generations of men, women, and children worked — cleared land, raised crops, built homes and roads and wealth — and were paid nothing, owned nothing, and could pass nothing on. When freedom came, the promises made to the newly freed were largely withdrawn, and the era that followed placed new walls between those families and the ordinary tools of getting ahead: wages fairly paid, property securely owned, credit fairly extended, schools fully open.
We present this qualitatively and carefully, because the history deserves care. We are not an academic institution, and we do not publish numbers we cannot source. But the through-line is well documented in the American record: work taken without pay, followed by generations of barriers to the things work is supposed to buy — a home, an education, a stake, an inheritance.
A movement whose whole premise is that work should count cannot call that history somebody else's subject.
- 1619–1865Roughly two and a half centuries of legal slavery in the colonies and the United States — labor without wages, by law.
- 1865The Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery. Early promises of land and support for freed families are largely rescinded.
- Late 1800s–1960sSegregation and discriminatory law and practice restrict where many Black Americans could live, learn, borrow, and work.
- TodayAmericans continue to debate whether and how the nation should formally address slavery's lasting effects. We believe that discussion should continue — openly and respectfully.
The current federal proposals
What H.R. 40 and S. 40 would actually do
Honest advocacy starts with describing existing proposals accurately — including proposals that are not our own.
- What they are
- H.R. 40 (House) and S. 40 (Senate) are companion bills introduced in Congress, commonly known as the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act.
- What they would do
- They would establish a federal commission to study slavery and its lasting effects, and to develop and recommend reparations proposals for African Americans descended from people enslaved in the United States. The commission would study — it would not itself pay anyone anything.
- What they would not do
- The bills do not enact compensation, set amounts, or define final eligibility. They create a formal, national process for studying the question and reporting recommendations back to Congress.
- Status
- These bills have been introduced in Congress; they have not become law. We describe them here so members can understand the actual legislative landscape, not a caricature of it.
Our organization's proposal
A broader proposal of our own — clearly labeled as ours
Alongside our support for an open national discussion, 120K or Less advances a policy proposal of our own for our members to debate, refine, and vote on:
We propose that the United States consider compensation for all documented descendants of people who were enslaved in America — regardless of the descendant's race.
Slavery in America fell overwhelmingly, and by design, on Africans and their descendants, and any honest program would reflect that reality. Our proposal simply anchors eligibility in one thing: the documented historical record of enslavement in a family's line. If your ancestors were enslaved in this country, the theft of their labor is part of your family's story — and we believe the question of repair should follow the documentation wherever it leads.
Like every plank of our platform, this is an advocacy position in formation. Members will shape its details — including what documentation standards, mechanisms, and safeguards would make such a program fair and workable — through our one-member, one-vote process.
How we'll engage
Principles for a discussion worthy of the subject
Grounded in the record
We argue from documented history and sourced facts, or we argue qualitatively. We will not invent numbers, inflate claims, or trade in slogans on a subject this serious.
Respect for every American
No American alive today is to blame for slavery, and no American should be spoken to with contempt in this discussion. We are trying to repair something, not win something.
Accuracy about proposals
We describe existing legislation as it is written — including where it differs from our own view — and we label our own proposals as our own. Always.
Nonpartisan by conviction
This isn't about political parties. It's about people. We welcome members who disagree with this plank; one member, one vote is how we settle what we stand for.
Why we raise it
Work is our whole premise
We are a movement of people who believe work should be honored and paid. We cannot hold that belief for the living and stay silent about the generations whose work was taken. An open discussion costs America nothing but honesty.
Common questions
Is your broader proposal part of H.R. 40 or S. 40?
No, and we want to be unmistakably clear about that. H.R. 40 and S. 40 would establish a commission to study reparations proposals for African Americans descended from people enslaved in the United States. Our broader proposal — compensation for all documented descendants of people enslaved in America, regardless of race — is our organization's own new policy idea. It does not appear in current federal legislation.
Does 120K or Less support H.R. 40 / S. 40?
We support what those bills fundamentally are: a formal, national process for studying the question openly. Supporting open study is the heart of our position. Our own proposal goes further in one respect — eligibility anchored in documentation regardless of race — and we present that as our contribution to the discussion, not as a substitute for it.
Why "regardless of race"?
Because we believe the cleanest moral anchor is the documented fact of enslavement itself. Slavery in America was inflicted overwhelmingly on Africans and their descendants, and honest history says so plainly. Anchoring eligibility in documentation honors that history while keeping the standard simple: the record of what was done, family by family.
What if I'm a member and I disagree with this position?
Then you're exactly the kind of member this organization is built for. Our platform is set — and can be changed — by one-member, one-vote democracy. Join, argue your case, and vote. That's the whole model.
How would "documented descendant" be verified?
That's one of the serious design questions our proposal would have to answer — genealogical records, census and probate documents, and historical archives all exist, but standards would need to be fair, rigorous, and humane. We don't pretend to have this solved. It's part of what an open national discussion, and our own member deliberation, are for.
Be part of the discussion
Join the movement
Membership is free, and every member gets a vote on what we stand for — including this. Opens at national launch