Reparations activist does not expect compensation from New York officials as action is delayed for years

A reparations activist with a grassroots organization called the U.S. Freedmen Project told Fox News Digital that their group expects no financial compensation from New York state officials after lawmakers quietly delayed a high-profile study into historic remedies.

"What the mainstream reparations movement is really about ... is spinning your wheels until [those] to whom the debt is owed tire out, give up, and give in," U.S. Freedmen Project President Devine Prince told Fox News Digital. "That's the only reason why you would pursue race-based policies within a system and within a country that has the 14th Amendment, which bans and prohibits race-based policies."

The U.S. Freedmen Project — a group of self-identified "Foundational Black Americans" — aims to educate the public on the legal and historical distinctions between African Americans who are direct descendants of enslaved people in the U.S. and immigrants from Africa or the Caribbean who arrived voluntarily in recent decades.

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Princes comments follow sharp backlash after state leaders extended the timeline for the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies to issue its final report. A provision embedded in the recently passed state budget pushed the commission's deadline back two years — from 2027 to 2029 — nearly four years beyond its original 2025 deadline.

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) publicly criticized the delay in June.

"The states decision to spend an additional three years before it takes any action to address these harms raises a lot of questions about when Black New Yorkers will receive reparations," said Chantelle Williams, assistant director of the NYCLUs Racial Justice Center.

"Meanwhile, the impact of discrimination continues to harm Black individuals and communities across the state. This delay is not just a bureaucratic inconvenience. It is a disservice to those who have suffered the profound and lasting consequences of inequality," Williams added.

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The nine-member state commission, established by legislation signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in late 2023, was tasked with examining the Empire State's historical ties to slavery, Jim Crow-era discrimination, and economic disparities like redlining. The panel was charged with delivering recommendations for potential state-level financial compensation and policy reforms.

The commission recently concluded a series of statewide public hearings, culminating in a May 30 forum in Harlem titled "From Extraction to Repair: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap."

However, state lawmakers opted to move back the commission's deadline. Assemblymember Michaelle C. Solages, D-N.Y., who sponsored the original legislation, acknowledged the extension was requested to navigate a shifting national legal environment. Solages cited conservative legal challenges targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and the broader erosion of race-conscious