A dirty secret in U.S. history is how local property taxes have been used to steal massive amounts of land and money from Black people, for the last 160 years. The Black Tax, a new book by historian Andrew Kahrl, exposes these scams that helped create the colossal racial wealth gap of today. The damage to Black Americans? More than $600 billion in straight-up theft – and trillions in lost generational wealth!

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Guest: Andrew W. Kahrl

Andrew Kahrl is a Professor at the University of Virgina. His research focuses on the social and political history of racial inequality in the United States. He teaches courses on African American history, race and real estate, and U.S. urban history.

Books by Andrew Kahrl:

• The Black Tax: 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America
• The Land Was Ours: How Black Beaches Became White Wealth in the Coastal South
  

Related readings and resources:

• The Whiteness of Wealth: How The Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans - And How We Can Fix It by Dorothy A. Brown
• “Blacks in South Struggle to Keep the Little Land They Have Left” (NY Times 1972)
• Federation of Southern Cooperatives (Land Assistance Fund)

HIGHLIGHTS OF EPISODE:

[10:55] Over-taxing of Black-owned property

[13:54] Under-servicing of Black communities

[22:18] The tax sale scam

[26:06] The saga of Evelina Jenkins

[29:08] The tab: damages to Black Americans for stolen property

[39:32] Andrew Kahrl’s proposals to repair the tax system

[42:22] Importance of solidarity to creating a more just system

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This is an exciting time in the fight for Black reparations! As momentum builds across the country, Pay The Tab is expanding in new directions - including the first-ever reparations course at UCLA Law School. In this special episode, Tony and Adam bring the latest news, answer your questions, and share things we all can do to disrupt America's toxic system of racism, denial, and capitalist greed.

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The largest-ever court award for slavery reparations came from an unlikely plaintiff. Henrietta Wood was an enslaved woman who gained her freedom in the 1840s - only to be kidnapped and sold back into slavery for 15 more horrific years. Her heroic fight for payback is inspiration for today’s reparations battle. Join us with historian Caleb McDaniel, whose book telling Wood's story, Sweet Taste Of Liberty, won the Pulitzer Prize.

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Guest: W. Caleb McDaniel

Dr. McDaniel is a professor at Rice University and U.S. historian, focusing on the Civil War Era and the struggle over slavery. He chairs the Department of History and serves as co-chair of Rice's Task Force on Slavery, Segregation, and Racial Injustice. His book, Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America, was awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in History.

• Caleb McDaniel's home page
• Caleb McDaniel's book about Henrietta Wood, Sweet Taste Of Liberty
• Stolen by Richard Bell - story of five Black boys kidnapped from Philadelphia into slavery in 1825
• More about Henrietta Wood's son Arthur Sims including his photo in Jet Magazine when he was America's oldest practicing Black lawyer!
  
  

HIGHLIGHTS OF EPISODE:

[5:57] The “reverse Underground Railroad” and kidnapping gangs in border states
[12:51] The villain: Zebulon Ward
[17:37] The case: Henrietta Wood v. Zebulon Ward
[20:38] Generational impact of court award on Wood’s family
[28:42] Importance of political action in the fight for reparations
[31:52] The hero: Henrietta Wood

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Rep. Justin J. Pearson blows away our live audience with his bold case for reparations - and for making change through multiracial solidarity. He speaks on the racist connections of gun violence and environmental pollution; and what we need to do to fix things. Also on video!

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Guest: Rep. Justin J. Pearson

Rep. Pearson is one of the most exciting new progressive voices in America. He’s state representative for Tennessee's 86th district, which includes the city of Memphis. He made international news in 2023 as part of the "Tennessee Three" when he was expelled and then reinstated after leading protests over gun violence. He led a multiracial movement that took on billion-dollar corporations and saved Memphis’s drinking water by blocking a pipeline scheduled to run through the city’s Black community.

• The closing argument: Rep. Pearson’s case for reparations in 10 minutes
  
  
• Rep. Justin J. Pearson and the Tennessee Three: NPR piece
  
  
• Justin J. Pearson’s fight against the Memphis pipeline on Heather McGhee's podcast
  
  
• More on the “solidarity dividend”: Heather McGhee’s book The Sum of Us
  
  
• More on Justin J. Pearson’s time as an activist at Bowdoin College
  
  
• Rep. Pearson’s letter addressing the his colleague’s inaction on gun reform April 2023
  
  

HIGHLIGHTS OF EPISODE:

[17:24] What “environmental racism” is and how it hurts communities
[25:56] Importance of a multi-racial, intergenerational movement for justice
[29:52] Reparations for environmental racism
[39:02] Racist origins of the Second Amendment
[49:29] How gun violence and environmental racism are connected
[55:35] The case for reparations in 10 minutes
[1:11:06] Audience Q & A

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Did you know Black Americans get about one hour less sleep each night than white people? Less sleep means serious health problems - and shorter life spans. We dive into this shocking “racial sleep gap” with a leading authority on the subject, Dr. Dayna Johnson. She breaks down where it comes from (spoiler alert: it’s all about racism) - and what we need to do to fix it!

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Guest: Dr. Dayna Johnson

Dayna Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Emory University in Atlanta. She earned her Ph.D. in Epidemiologic Science from the University of Michigan. Dr. Johnson completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Her research explores the causes of sleep health disparities, especially those due to race and gender.

• Dr. Dayna Johnson’s home page
  
  
• From Tricia Hersey (AKA the “Nap Bishop”):
  • "No More Grind”: her podcast interview about rest as resistance
  • Her manifesto, Rest Is Resistance
• Great article: “Reparations for Black People Should Include Rest”

HIGHLIGHTS OF EPISODE:

[0:55] Tony & Adam on the “racial sleep gap”

[9:52] Societal racism as root cause of the sleep gap

[14:42] How individual racism impacts Black people’s sleep

[16:48] Why Black people with more income and education often get less sleep

[26:25] How Black trauma can cause lifelong sleep problems

[33:51] Ideas on reparations for Black Americans’ sleep

[48:51] Tony’s call to action for Black listeners

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In the largest single act of mass incarceration in U.S. history, our government forced over 125,000 Japanese Americans into prison camps for three years during World War II. On this special live episode, two leading activists join us to expose the true story of this racist atrocity, the fight for reparations that followed, and the importance of racial solidarity in all movements for change. We know Black America can achieve reparations: it’s been done before!

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Guests: Kathy Masaoka and traci kato-kiriyama

Kathy Masaoka was active in the movement for Japanese American redress in the 1980s and has worked to educate Americans about the camps. She co-chairs Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress (NCRR) and is active in the fight for Black reparations, testifying before Congress in support of H.R. 40 in 2022.

traci kato-kiriyama is an award-winning multi-disciplinary artist and activist, recognized for her work as writer, performer, cultural producer, community organizer, and audiobook narrator. traci co-chairs the National Nikkei Reparations Coalition and is on the Why We Can't Wait Coalition.

Check out the VIDEO of this live episode!

More on the incarceration of Japanese Americans:

• Searchable list of all 125,284 names of those incarcerated (Ireizō)
• NCRR’s book on the fight for Japanese American reparations
• Videos of the 1981 hearings
• “Pilgrimage” documentary
  

More on traci kato-kuriyama’s work:

• traci’s website
• Their amazing book Navigating Without Instruments
  

More from bridgette bianca:

• Her poem from our live show: “There Goes The Neighborhood”
• bridgette’s homepage

The California Reparations Task Force proposals for Black reparations

Highlights of episode:

[9:56] Bogus excuses vs. real reasons for Japanese Americans’ incarceration

[15:31] Kathy and traci's family experiences in prison camps

[21:45] traci reads "No Redress"

[29:39] Clips from J.A. reparations hearings

[36:51] Limitations of J.A. reparations

[39:11] Lessons of racial solidarity

[52:05] traci reads "Note to Nikkei Community on Reparations"

[56:35] Q & A

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Mass incarceration is a cancer that’s devouring Black communities. Writer and filmmaker Asia Johnson joins us and shares her experiences as a formerly incarcerated woman - and her visions for a new system of justice. Recorded with a live audience. Also on video!

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Guest: Asia Johnson

Asia Johnson is a writer, filmmaker, and activist for the rights of incarcerated people. She is the Manager of Storytelling for zealo.us, a national advocacy, arts, education, and media institute. Her debut short film “Out of Place” screened at universities across the country. She is currently working on her first feature length documentary.

Check out the VIDEO of this episode!

More about Asia and her work:

• Asia’s homepage
• Asia’s first film Out Of Place
• zealo.us
• Right of Return Fellowship
• Art for Justice
  

More about the prison-industrial complex:

• 13th (Ava DuVernay’s documentary masterpiece)
• The New Jim Crow (Michelle Alexander’s definitive book)
• Vera Institute of Justice
  

More about Restorative Justice:

• Until We Reckon (book by Danielle Sered)
• Common Justice (Sered’s RJ organization in Chicago)
• Restorativejustice.org

Highlights of episode:

[8:20] Asia shares her early life and family experiences

[18:20] Asia shares her experience in prison

[22:23] [Asia explains challenges people face after prison

[31:59] Asia envisions abolition of mass incarceration

[37:24] More productive ways to spend $200 billion

[38:56] Restorative justice as alternative to mass incarceration

[55:03] Adam discusses indifference of white America as key obstacle

[56:24] Asia’s Q&A with the audience

[1:14:37] Asia’s closing poem and call to action

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Why has it always been damn near impossible for Black Americans to make ends meet - let alone build wealth? Join us with Mehrsa Baradaran, law professor and a leading expert on the racial wealth gap. She speaks the truth and helps us bust the myths we’ve all been fed about race, money, and the American Dream. Mehrsa also has an innovative plan to bridge the gap real fast!

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Guest: Mehrsa Baradaran

Mehrsa Baradaran is a professor at UC Irvine Law School and a leading expert on the racial wealth gap. Her award-winning book The Color of Money is the definitive work on the subject. Mehrsa’s proposed “Homestead Act for the 21st Century” lays out a bold plan to redress hundreds of years of racial discrimination and enable Black Americans to fully participate in the American Dream of homeownership.

Highlights of Episode:

[1:53] Racial wealth gap explained

[4:46] Origin and expansion of the wealth gap

[15:11] Role of U.S. government in vicious cycle of discrimination against Black people

[18:35] Myths about causes of the wealth gap

[22:06] Real reasons for the gap

[23:40] Mehrsa’s Homestead Act for the 21st Century

[30:01] How reparations will uplift everyone

[33:48] Ideas for making reparations personal


Mehrsa’s plan for reparations: A Homestead Act for the 21st Century

Books by Mehrsa Baradaran:

• The Color of Money
• How the Other Half Banks

Mehrsa’s video testimony to the California Reparations Task Force (10/13/21)

More on "redlining":

• Redlining maps for all U.S. cities
• More on the U.S. government’s role in redlining

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Transcript of this episode

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