On the eve of Juneteenth 2026, members of the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus, community advocates, and descendants of the enslaved gathered in Lansing to announce something that rarely happens in statehouses anymore: a serious, specific, legislative response to the unfinished business of American freedom.
The package does not promise reparations checks. It promises something that has to come first — the truth. A formal, state-funded study of what happened, who it happened to, and what repair requires.
The Three Bills
House Bill 1 — American Freedman Reparations Commission
*(Lead sponsor: Rep. Donovan McKinney)*
Establishes an independent, time-limited commission of historians, legal experts, community leaders, and policy specialists to examine Michigan’s role in slavery, redlining, urban renewal, displacement, and other documented discriminatory practices. The commission produces findings and recommendations. The legislature retains full authority over any appropriations that follow.
House Bill 2 — Office of American Freedman Affairs
*(Lead sponsor: Rep. Brenda Carter, Pontiac)*
Creates a permanent office within Michigan state government to coordinate resources, support genealogy and historical research, preserve history, promote economic opportunity, and advise the governor and legislature on issues affecting American Freedmen — defined as descendants of individuals emancipated from slavery in the United States.
House Bill 3 — Data Disaggregation and Lineage Recognition
*(Lead sponsor: Rep. Jason Hoskins, Southfield)*
Addresses a critical gap in Michigan’s data collection: currently, descendants of enslaved Americans, African immigrants, and Caribbean immigrants are grouped into a single demographic category. This bill separates those designations so policymakers can accurately identify disparities and target remedies. Participation is voluntary.
Why Michigan, Why Now
Rep. Hoskins opened the press conference by grounding the legislation in the present-day numbers:
“The Black-white household income gap in Michigan stands at more than $31,000 annually. Black Michiganders face documented disparities in maternal health outcomes, environmental exposure, and access to credit — disparities whose causes can be traced through decades of discriminatory public policy.”
Rep. McKinney connected the legislation to his father-in-law, Robert Laddermore — born in 1948 in Dublin, Georgia, between Macon and Savannah, as a sharecropper on a plantation. Drafted into the Army, honorably discharged, he joined the Great Migration north to Detroit and worked at a Chrysler engine plant on 8 Mile and Mound for 35 years. He passed away from ALS three years ago at the age of 74.
“Let me tell you that truth isn’t far away from today. Remnants of slavery still exist. Slavery has never been eliminated. It has evolved — through Black codes, Jim Crow, and now the current rollbacks from Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court of all the gains our ancestors fought for.”
The History Michigan Has Never Examined
Keith Williams, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus and sponsor of Detroit’s historic Proposal R, delivered a statement read into the record by Rep. Tanya Myers Phillips:
“In Detroit, the construction of I-375 destroyed large portions of the historic Black Bottom and Paradise Valley communities — once vibrant centers of Black business, culture, and home ownership. In Lansing, Interstate 496 cut through established neighborhoods, displacing families and disrupting generations of economic opportunity. These decisions did more than remove buildings. They destroyed businesses, erased family wealth, displaced residents, and weakened the economic foundation of entire communities.”
Williams also noted that Detroit’s Proposal R — the first municipal reparations ballot initiative in the city’s history — was approved by nearly 80% of voters, demonstrating that Detroiters already understand what this legislation is asking the state to study.
Community Behind the Legislation
Ernest Russell, President of the Freedman Agenda League of Michigan, framed the moment in terms that go beyond politics:
“The American Freedmen community — descendants of persons enslaved in the United States — we are not a historical footnote. We are living witnesses and inheritors of a history carried forward by our families, our communities, and our institutions. Justice has always depended on those willing to remember. These three pieces of legislation reflect a commitment to truth, reconciliation, and the unfinished work of ensuring equality under the law.”
Venus Joy Brown, President of the Southfield Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, noted that if enacted, the legislation could help nearly 1.5 million descendants of the enslaved in Michigan whose families continue to experience the effects of systematic discrimination.
Angela Enoch, Co-founder of the Freedman Agenda League, credited the coalition between the League and the Southfield Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta as the engine that brought the legislation from conversation to introduction.
Bipartisan Support
Rep. McKinney noted the package has bipartisan support — including Rep. John Roth, a Republican who signed on as a co-sponsor:
“He believed this is about the facts. Put emotions aside, put the culture wars aside. This is about honoring and recognizing the harms that have happened years prior to now.”
Funding Estimates
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Commission study: $3–5 million (based on comparable state-level studies)
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Office of American Freedman Affairs: $1–5 million for operations
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Reference point: Detroit’s citywide reparations study cost approximately $467,000
5 Key Takeaways
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This is not a reparations check — it is a commission — the legislation establishes a framework to study what happened, who was harmed, and what remedy is appropriate. The legislature retains full authority over what comes next.
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Michigan has never conducted a statewide examination of its role in slavery and discrimination — redlining, urban renewal, I-375 destroying Black Bottom and Paradise Valley in Detroit, I-496 displacing communities in Lansing — none of it has ever been formally studied at the state level.
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The data problem is real — Michigan currently groups descendants of enslaved Americans, African immigrants, and Caribbean immigrants into one demographic category. Rep. Hoskins’ bill fixes that so policymakers can actually see where the disparities are.
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Detroit already showed the way — Proposal R, the first municipal reparations ballot initiative in Detroit’s history, passed with nearly 80% of the vote. The people are ahead of the politicians.
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The package has bipartisan support — Republican Rep. John Roth signed on as a co-sponsor, saying it is about facts, not culture wars. That matters for the path forward in a divided legislature.