For more than a century, the state of Florida operated a reform school for boys that led to the deaths of almost 100 boys, mostly Black, many of who were then buried in unmarked graves on school grounds.
The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in the Panhandle town of Marianna also left hundreds of survivors traumatized from the physical, mental and sexual abuse they endured while incarcerated at the school.
This year, more than 800 survivors will receive $20 million in restitution to be divided equally among them, according to CNN . That would amount to about $25,000 each, which is not nearly enough to make up for the abuse, according to one survivor.
“It’s not enough money to pay a person for what we went through,” Richard Huntly, a 78-year-old Black man, told WESH in September when Florida legislators were finalizing the total amount to be paid out, going from $40 million to $20 million…