Boston City Council unanimously adopts resolution apologizing for city's role in slave trade

BOSTON -- June 15, 2022, Boston City Council votes unanimously to apologize for city's role in the transatlantic slave trade. The council voted 13-0 on June 15 to adopt Docket 0770, sponsored by Councilor Tania Fernandez-Anderson and co-sponsored by Councilors Ruthzee Louijeune and Kendra Lara, acknowledging, condemning, and apologizing for Boston's historical participation in slavery and its ongoing economic impacts on Black residents. Fernandez-Anderson cited a city disparity study showing the average net worth of a white Boston family at $250,000 against $8 for the average Black family, and noted that only 0.4 percent of city contracts between 2014 and 2019 went to Black-owned businesses. Councilor Mark Baker said the "apologize" language gave him pause, "I grew up a little rough and tumble. We grew up poor", but voted yes. The same session produced a unanimous roll call approving an amended home rule petition (Docket 0432) to expand Chapter 30B procurement preferences for minority- and women-owned businesses to four additional city agencies, covering a contracting pool the 2020 disparity study valued at $2.1 billion.