By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
With his recent signing of the state’s $78 billion biennial budget, Gov. Bob Ferguson has authorized the allocation of $300,000 to fund a study on reparations for descendants of U.S. chattel slavery in Washington state. The funding was included in Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill (ESSB) 5167, marking a significant step toward addressing historical injustices within the state.
The study, named the Charles Mitchell and George Washington Bush Study on Reparative Action, honors two African American pioneers who faced racism in Washington’s early history. Charles Mitchell was enslaved as a child in the Washington Territory and escaped to Canada in the mid-1800s, documenting slavery’s early impact in the Northwest. While George Washington Bush was among the earliest permanent Black settlers in the territory.
The Mitchell/Bush study will examine the impact of slavery on all Washington citizens and propose concrete recommendations to the governor, the legislature, and the U.S. Congress.
Senator Bob Hasegawa (D-Beacon Hill), who initiated the legislation and conversations surrounding the study, was prompted by the story of the Houston family of Renton. In 1968, the Renton School District acquired the Houston family’s property for $44,600 through eminent domain, intending to build school facilities. No school was constructed, and the land was sold to a developer in 1980 for $186,675—more than four times the original price. Today, million-dollar homes cover the property.
This case inspired the Houston Eminent Domain Fairness Act, which ensures that if land seized for school use is never developed, it must be offered back to the original owners at the purchase price.
During testimony to the Senate Law & Justice Committee in January, Hasegawa said that the study is important so that we can better understand the impacts of chattel slavery right here in Washington state, and provide the framework for a larger conversation around reparations for any injustices associated with it.
“We understand the magnitude of this problem and how generational wealth is being stolen,” Hasegawa said. “This opens the door to a much larger conversation about reparations and how we are going to deal with this problem in the future, and how we make sure everybody has equal opportunities for their families.”
For years, community leaders and legislators have raised the issue of reparations in Washington, calling for formal recognition and redress of the long-term harms endured by Black residents who are descendants of enslaved people. Until now, those efforts had not resulted into any significant action.
“Slavery reparations for African-Americans are long overdue,” Hasegawa said. “Black legislators like former Representative Wineberry and the Congressional Black Caucus supported Japanese Reparations in the ’80s for America’s unjust World War II internment of Japanese. So, I was proud our communities could work together this session to fund this historic reparations study!”
Attorney and former state rep. Jesse Wineberry, co-founder of the Washington Equity Now Alliance (WENA) and sponsor of the June 2024 Washington state reparations resolution, praised the funding of the study.
“Thanks to Governor Ferguson and the legislative leadership of State Senator Bob Hasegawa and State Representative Chipalo Street, Washington makes history as only the third state in America to fund a state study on reparations for the descendants of victims of U.S. chattel slavery!” Wineberry said. “This is a huge victory for our state and the nation!”
With the governor’s signature, the idea and vision that had been overlooked and ignored for decades became policy, paving the way for the study to begin.
Speaking on the broader significance of this milestone, Paula F. Sardinas, founder of the Washington Build Back Black Alliance (WBBA), praised the collaborative effort behind the initiative.
“The $300,000 allocation to study lineage-based reparations is a historic first step in Washington’s journey toward justice,” Sardinas said. “Nothing happens in a vacuum—we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to countless advocates and to Governor Bob Ferguson, who has been a consistent champion for the Black and BIPOC community. We had no doubt the Governor would do the right thing, and this moment affirms what is possible when equity is more than just a talking point—it’s policy.”
