Philadelphia’s latest fight over how to tackle the legacy of slavery went public on Wednesday, when City Council’s Public Safety Committee spent more than three hours taking testimony on a proposal to create an Office of Freedmen Affairs. The new municipal office, supporters say, would identify descendants of enslaved people and help steer remedies such as scholarships, tax relief and other targeted programs. Backers framed the idea as a practical, status-based way to address inequities rooted in slavery, while city officials stressed it is still strictly exploratory with no dedicated funding. The hearing landed in the middle of Black History Month, as Philadelphia weighs how to confront its past in current policy.
Most of the witnesses were members of the Philadelphia Reparations Coalition for American Freedmen, who urged councilmembers to think beyond one-time checks and toward a permanent city structure. Councilmember Curtis Jones said Philadelphia could look at “common-sense” measures rather than one-off cash payments, according to WHYY. Committee members pressed witnesses for hours on who would qualify and what a city office could realistically deliver.
A formal resolution, File No. 250781, gives the Public Safety Committee authority to hold hearings on establishing the Office of Freedmen Affairs, and the city’s legislative record shows the committee met Wednesday to take testimony, according to City legislative records. The resolution pitches the office as a municipal agency that could “support the health and economic prosperity” of descendants of emancipated persons, while calling for a careful study of legal authority, funding streams and program priorities before anything moves forward…