A team from the Black Education Research Center (BERC) at Columbia University’s Teachers College has been selected to lead research for a year-long study examining the historical and contemporary impacts of racial inequities in New York City.
Funded by the NYC Commission on Racial Equity, the study also includes scholars affiliated with Duke University, Howard University, the Harvard School of Public Health, the Fordham University School of Law, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Hunter College.
“Reparations begins with an honest accounting of the past and the ways its harms continue to shape the lived experiences of Black New Yorkers,” says Sonya Douglass, founding director of the BERC and a professor of education leadership. “As part of this examination of reparations in New York City, BERC will bring community-based participatory action research into conversation with community knowledge to document those harms and inform recommendations for meaningful repair.”
Over the next year, the research team will collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data related to “the impacts of slavery and its legacies in the city of New York using relevant historical and present-day evidence.” Next summer, the study’s findings and recommendations will be presented to city officials alongside an implementation plan that will begin in 2028.
“This study is an opportunity to turn historical understanding and community priorities into concrete recommendations for redress and racial justice,” said Dr. Douglass. “Our goal is to give New York City a clear foundation for action with practical steps, meaningful accountability, and lasting benefits that address longstanding harms to Black New Yorkers and strengthen the city as a whole.”
