Re-imagining truth and redress: racial injustice against African Americans in the United States and the current push for transitional justice

Abstract

Transitional justice mechanisms such as criminal prosecutions, institutional reforms, truth commissions, and reparations influence the history and collective memories shared by communities. The aim of this paper is to examine the ongoing push to incorporate transitional justice in the US’ repertoire for justice and redress and how the history of racial injustice and transitional justice within the US can explain this push as well as the need to establish federal transitional justice mechanisms as proposed by H.Con.Res.19 and HR 40; these congressional resolutions propose the establishment of a federal truth commission for racial injustice and a federal reparations program for African Americans respectively. By not reconciling human rights abuses against African Americans, the differing histories between communities within the US and the national Movement for Black Lives have set the scene for a national dialogue about the past, how we remember it, and how we should proceed.