Study team outlines historical, community and genealogical research for state reparations report

Marvin Slaughter, co‑policy evaluation lead for the TrueAccusation reparations study, briefed commissioners on a multi‑stream research effort combining historical archives, community surveys and listening sessions, and genealogical tracing. Slaughter said the team has finished the first phase of historical research and is beginning a second archival phase focused on floor debates and correspondence; he reported roughly 2,000 research hours have been spent to date after additional King County funding and said the interim report must be submitted to the Department of Commerce in October in order to publish an interim public report in December.

Project leads described community outreach (an online reparations survey open for months, 14 listening sessions across the state, partnerships with 12 organizations including two youth groups) and genealogical work that has traced early Black populations through federal and territorial censuses and vital records. "We have done the initial community engagement and surveying... and we are analyzing the data," Slaughter said. Commissioners asked how the team will reconcile large loss estimates with practical implementation; Slaughter and Dr. Thomas Kramer, co‑policy evaluation lead, said loss estimates may be enormous and that community priorities should guide modalities and negotiations.