right now, at this defining moment in america, with so much on the line, from abc news, my america, your america. our america. this is turning point. tonight, race, reparations, repercussions, paying back communities of color. is it the road to renewal? >> i do believe that the day of reckoning is coming. >> and where this nation standss on slavery still haunts the present. tonight, what america owes. here now, byron pitts. >> good evening. thank you for joining us. tonight, a look at the deep-rooted stain of racism in america, in our schools, our

streets, our cells. we look at the painful past in order to learn i >> tions, the so controversial, why are so many people calling for it now? to examine that, we have to go back in time. 1526, the spanish bring 100 enslaved africans to what is now the carolinas and georgia. they were the first known slaves on american soil. we know what happened next. for the next 350 years, africans were enslaved, beaten, tortured and killed. they built the white house. they fought in wars. their labor built the american economy. and then came the civil war and freedom. promises of 40 acres and later on a mule. they were free, sort of.

there were black codes, allowing black people to be arrested for things like being out at night or not working at a servant. and then there was jim crow. a set of laws that denied african-americans all sorts of rights. if you violated them, it could get you arrested or even killed. then, there were housing discrimination laws, and a practice called redlining, where federal and local governments denied black people home loans. since this country's beginnings, an incomparable number of black lives have been lost. so the question is, can it be repaid? >> there's something about living in the mountains. >> it's a sense of serenity. >> actually, it's like a postcard. what doesn't come to mind when people think of asheville.

>> black folk. you don't think of african-americans being in asheville. >> i don't think people know of the rich plaqblack history here. they don't know because pretty much the history has been erased. urban renewal forced my family, along with others, to move out. it was urban removal. the removal of black people from their land. reparation is owed. owe >> my family has been here, now, six generations. >> this box has asheville's black history. mainly the history of my community, south side. a whole community filed away. in this box. rich history. filed away.

closed until i decide to open it. and talk about i grew up in the '60s. at the time i was growing up, larger asheville was segregated. we had everything we needed from the cradle to the grave. black-owned hopes. black-owned businesses. it gave me a sense of pride. at 477 south rich broad i lived in the apartment with nine other

people. just where that pole is, is where i lived. so you had all of the homes that were up and down this and as you can see, it's urban renewal was implemented. so that forced us to have to move out. and we relocated to public housing. >> people were told this was all temporary. but we're looking at four, five, six generations of people having lived in it. >> this didn't come out of nowhere. this came out of explicit policy

that was designed to confine the descendants of those who had been enslaved. >> we must make sure that every family in america lives in a home of dignity. >> the intent was meant to improve the living conditions of african-americans. the actual outcome of urban renewal, that was another story. with the city, with the county, with the federal government not keeping its word to rebuild the neighborhoods. >> what's here? what's here? just the grass. grass. >> wherever urban renewal took place, we saw the decline of living standards for african-americans. higher unemployment, poorer health and academic achievement. >> my grand parents' house, libby and jesse smith, at 13

velvet street would have been in this area. behind us is the public works building. prior to being the public works building, it was the back yard that we played in. so, in 1984, this is the paperwork where my grand parents granted our land to the city. when i say granted, it's because on this document it says grantor, but i don't think that my grand parents had a choice. that's the whole point of imminent domain. it wasn't just the loss of their homes. it was the loss of what could have been generations of wealth for our family. >> since world war ii, the primary source of wealth of middle class america is the ownership of a home. well, if your home is destroyed, you've lost a primary pillar for middle class standard.

>> it is enraining,enraining,en, get a littt as well because i do believe that the day of reckoning is coming. >> say his name! >> george floyd. >> george floyd helped catlize a movement, a new civil rights movement that not only do you see confederate monuments come down but also reparations for black americans and our citizens locally. city council of the city of asheville apologizes and makes amends for carrying out an urban renewal program. our black residents need to be made whole? in so many areas. >> when you say that you are

wanting reparations, that we want teeth behind it, we don't want to see just words on a paper. >> i hear people say that's something our forefathers did. that's not the point. forefathers may have done it. but you? in some cases reap the benefits. >> growing up as an a little girl, i had no sense that that one day would all be gone, that i would walk in my neighborhood and see it completely gone. i have the memories, and that's part of why i tell my story, to preserve that history. i'm preserving that pride. preserve that history. i'm preserving that pride. i will preserve it until i elimi, and you're going to find yourself where you need to be. ♪

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'm in marion, louisiana. we're at the grave sight samuel and betsy. they were among the people sold by the society of jesus for the benefit of georgetown university. without the sale, georgetown university would not exist today. >> a lot of times we want to believe that this was so long ago. but the country has never addressed slavery. >> it's an institution that produces people that wield power. >> they conducted one of the largest mass slave sales, not just in jesuit history but in

american history. >> when i first found out that mytoeensled ge dinity ft comes out of this, we know who the culprits are. we know that's georgetown university. georgetown may say they're doing a lot of things for the descendants, but they aren't providing scholarships, they are not helping people find out if they're descendants or not. >> i consider that to be part of their birthright. >> i helped co-found the group that is intending on finding equity. i felt the university wasn't going to do theis work if we didn't. >> we introduced reparations seeking to attach a $27.20

activity fee onto tuition. >> we intended on raising $400,000 a year and use it for needed medical help, internet access or wanted a better opportunity to reach higher learning. >> we as a community are embodies jesuit values greater than that of the catholic church or founders of georgetown university. >> our fee was about a fourth of these other fees. probably less. >> the referendum was passed by over 66% of the student populationna april of 2019. >> and so for the very first time under shep's leadership, the student body of an american university went on record as saying that they felt that they, personally, owed a debt to the families of the people who made their university possible. >> georgetown had the final oval of it, the board. the board did not approve it, but what they did say was that

they would make it voluntary. by making it voluntary, was changing it from payment on a debt that is owed to a charitable endeavor. that takes away the whole point. reparations are not charity. reparations are payment on a debt that is owed. and georgetown university and the society of jesus do not want to acknowledge this debt. >> referendum was not approved, but the money that the fee would generate is being given to this cause. >> for a major university like

georgetown with the endowment of a billion dollars plus, what does $400,000 mean? >> right, it's not a lot of money, and we want to commit to that $400,000 and exceed it. >> so this $400,000 was money that georgetown raised. >> yes. >> there seems some irony in that. it seems in some ways the university is still benefitting off the backs of slaves. >> it is. and every institution that was built during that time continues to benefit, too. >> i'm talking specifically in this case about the right. >> translato the ufniversity was build on te backs of slaves. >> this commitment to the student referendum financial commitment is a part of larger work. it is not the sole amount that

georgetown has committed and plans to commit to this it has been deeply guided by our desire to be connected with the descendibili descendant community. it is part of the w.k. kellogg foundations. truth, racial justice and transformation program. and they invited georgetown to be a part of this conversation with the jesuits and the desdendant community. >> how big a priority is this issue of georgetown's history with slavery and reparations? >> i think it is a profoundly significant one. a great deal of university resources, time, energy has been put forth in exploring our

history and conceiving of how we move forward. >> then why is it that abc news reached out to the university weeks ago in the optics of no, you can't talk to our president, but we will present to you a woman of color, a senior member of the team at georgetown to speak in our behalf. >> i think that i was asked to engage in this conversation because president dejoia wasn't in the room in those conversations led by the kellogg foundation. i was present there. >> st. thomas manor is the jesuits residence. it is also a plantation. >> i know my people were here once. right now i'm feeling emotions but i can't really articulate them fully. to see all this and to know this information. i'm happy that i know it, but it's also hurtful to know.

there are some things you don't want to think about. >> the only way that we can overcome our past is to confront and acknowledge what happened, and then we have to fight to make it right. >> my ancestors could have seen the trees. it's history that they always hold that i will be yearning to know, yearning to fight for it. if the trees had eyes. you're not welcome here! get out of my face! hpv can cause certain cancers when your child grows up. get in its way. hpv can affect males and females... and there's no way to predict who will or won't clear the virus. but you can help protect your child by taking a first step. the cdc recommends hpv vaccination at age 11 or 12 to help protect against certain cancers. hey cancer! not... my... child. don't wait... talk to your child's doctor about hpv vaccination today.

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♪ tomorrow on "turning point", the old demons of racism, inspiring a new generation of artists. that's "nightline" for this evening, thanks for the company, america. goodnight. >> dicky: from hollywood, it's "jimmy kimmel live," with guest host, brad paisley. tonight, rainn wilson. and now, here's brad paisley. shimk e off him but he left to

and now i'm at the desk ♪ ♪ and i don't miss him not one bit ♪ cause tonight, we've got a great show ♪ ♪ and some funny, funny [ bleep ] ♪ ♪ take a break from the mean tweets awkward beats and lame jokes ♪ ♪ about donald trump it's the brad paisley live show ♪ ♪ oh lookin there a ratings bump ♪ ♪ >> thank you! thank you five sweaty people in face shields. appreciate it. this is awesome. and it's freaking weird. because everything is freaking weird right now. but some parts of life are starting to get back to normal.