The Fulton County Reparations Task Force released its comprehensive Harm Report this week, documenting more than $1 trillion in harm against Black people during slavery and the Jim Crow era. The findings were presented at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on Thursday.
Commissioner Marvin S. Arrington Jr. joined task force leaders Dr. Karcheik Sims-Alvarado and Dr. Amanda Meng to unveil the 615-page hardcover book. The report states that Fulton County "stole over $8.9 million in labor from over 4,200 enslaved Black individuals between 1854 and 1864."
"They've documented over $1 trillion worth of harm by Fulton County," Arrington said. The presentation comes after the United Nations approved a resolution last month recognizing the enslavement of Africans as crimes against humanity and urging reparations. The United States voted against that resolution.
The Fulton County Commission established the task force in 2021 and approved a $250,000 budget in 2023 for the first phase of research. The panel was moderated by Ann Hill Bond, a research committee member, with Marcus Coleman, vice chair of the task force, also in attendance.
