LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The buzzword "reparations" really means compensation to Lamont Collins. The Roots 101 African American Museum founder hopes for payments to the Black descendants of slaves, which a drafted Metro Council resolution would encourage of Congress. Pastors, like Crescent Hill Baptist's Jason Crosby, also support the measure and have spoken out before the council about it. 

Collins said slavery is to blame for many evils, including the racial disparities in generational wealth. He carries the shackles around his museum as proof of the inhumanity. He taps chains to bell-like contraptions to sound the clanking noise.

"They make sounds like animals," he lamented.

Next, he turns to a sculpture that depicts chained slaves forced into America. "This is one of the most powerful pieces we have."

Roots 101 is laid out chronologically as a walk through history; however, that's also strategic, Collins pointed out. It takes visitors through an era of pre-slavery and African kings and queens, into America where they were then treated as less than human beings. They were unpaid, yet huge drivers of others' economic success. 

"Even Africa lost in the transition, because they lost leaders, and inventors, doctors and lawyers that was brought into America to be less than they were there," Collins said. 

It's part of the reason he said payments are owed to the Black descendants of slaves. Instead of "reparations," he prefers to call it "compensation."

Metro Council's resolution would urge Congress to pass this measure for compensation, HR 40. It also pushes for voting reform, the passage of the For the People Act of 2021, criminal justice reform, police reform and analysis of achievement gaps in schools. 

"The issue of reparations is certainly something that is being discussed here," Crosby said. 

He's also testified before the council on the matter. He related it to a biblical story.

"Zacchaeus pledged to pay back what he had stolen and four times more. So it wasn't just that Zacchaeus said 'I'm sorry' and asked for forgiveness from Jesus. Zacchaeus actually took action," Crosby told the parable. 

As Collins carries the chains used long ago, he says there are figurative chains still present. He feels reparations could break the shackles. 

"They might have went away physically, but the chains are still here," he remarked.

Council will discuss the resolution again during a meeting on Sept. 16.