A proposed Tennessee law would forbid the study of reparations for the descendants of slaves. However, Reverend Earle Fisher is doing everything in power to prevent it from being passed.
Fisher, the senior paster of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Memphis, launched a petition against the tentative bill and said that in two days it has amassed more than 500 signatures.
‘This is not about money. This is about ideology. This is about political power,’ Fisher told NewsNation. “This is about people who are hell-bent on maintaining racial and economic inequities across the state and they are scared to death that the truth would come out. So, they don’t want anybody to study it.”
The bill will be voted on in the House next Wednesday. Meanwhile, State Senator Brent Taylor— who is a Republican representative from Shelby County and a sponsor of the bill—believes that reparations should not be discussed at the local level.
“I will make very clear our vote today does not pass judgment on reparations. That is a very significant and very important issue for many people in our country,” Taylor stated. “I think it’s inappropriate for our cities and counties tax dollars to go to such an issue.”
Amendment No. 1 was passed in the Senate a year ago and was added to the bill. Ultimately, it prevents a county, metropolitan government or municipality from using money for studying or handing out reparations. Fisher has been a vocal opponent of this approach.
“If the state of Tennessee has hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in a surplus, surplus means we are taking care of all of our financial responsibilities, and this is how much money we have left over. We can even call it expendable income,” Fisher said in regards to how reparations can tentatively be dispersed.
‘There are other entities and organizations that get 25 times that to do something most of us will probably say is a lot less significant.” Last year, all eight Black members of Tennessee county commission voted to launch a feasibility study to explore reparations for the descendants of slaves. They wanted to allocate around $5 million to be dedicated to the project.
Interestingly enough, five white members voted against it or abstained, questioning the price tag placed on the decision. The vote came about a month after Black police officers killed Tyre Nichols—a Black man—in Memphis.
Fisher’s attempt to stop the bill is admirable, but as diversity, equity and inclusion efforts continue to be attacked, justice for Black people will always be an uphill battle.