Members of Congress aim to revive federal reparations push

[brooklynite]

Source: NBC News

A group of lawmakers is stepping in to bolster reparation efforts that would benefit descendants of enslaved Africans.

On Wednesday, Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., stood in front of the Capitol as they unveiled “Reparations Now,” a resolution that urges the federal government to take action to compensate the descendants of slaves.. The measure is meant to bring attention back to H.R. 40, the slow-moving federal bill that has been introduced to Congress each term since 1989 and would create a commission to examine the issue.

Bush said at the press conference the nation has a “moral and legal obligation” to provide reparations to Black people for slavery and its resulting racist systems.

“Black people in our country cannot wait any longer for our government to begin addressing each and every one of the extraordinary bits of harm, all of the harm it has caused since the founding, that it continues to perpetuate each and every day all across our communities, all across this country,” Bush said.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/congress-members-aim-revive-federal-reparations-push-rcna84951

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It won't pass.

It won't get any Democrats elected.

Other than that....

[rampartc]

1. it won't pass

it will cost us elections for generations.

reparations are certainly owed, but by whom? at any rate, any adequate compensation would be ruinous to "america's job creators."

the best approach for us is to win elections, improve the economy for everyone as much as possible, and continue to support education, health care, and civil rights .

[intheflow]

9. And that's what they said about LBJ's signing the 1968 Civil Rights Act.

And, yes, it may have cost us some elections. It was still the right thing to do.

[rampartc]

11. johnson thought the civil tights act would cost us elections for a generation. he was wrong.

60 (3 or 4generations and counting) years of repub misrule and backlash have made life worse for everyone.

it was , of course, the right thing to do, but maybe we need to be a bit smarter in implementation?

[brooklynite]

2. Cori Bush (MO-01), D+27; Barbara Lee (CA-12), D+40; Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), D+23

[Polybius]

15. Wow, I'm shocked that those three would support this!

[TheProle]

19. Rep. Cori Bush Pushes For $14 Trillion In Reparations

Bush’s resolution estimates that this nation owes roughly $14 trillion in debt to African Americans. “Our bill breaks down the value of cotton produced by enslaved Africans...the economic advancement of the United States through cotton,” Bush said. “And how there has never been any repayment for the harm done to those enslaved.”

https://www.theroot.com/rep-cori-bush-pushes-for-14-trillion-in-reparations-1850445176

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Was this the bill that was introduced by Rep. John Conyers?

Back in the day, he posted on this board.

[SouthBayDem]

4. Yes in 1989.

The first congressional proposal for reparations was over 100 years earlier when Rep. Thaddeus Stevens (R-PA) "proposed that all planter lands in the former Confederacy be confiscated and redistributed to ex-slaves and poor whites in forty-acre tracks."

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Thanks so much!

I think I read in Mary Trump's book that John Conyers' bill was active again. And he did post here, I think it was just once, back in the day. As you can imagine, he got countless replies, and I couldn't help smiling over the number that had John Conyers avatars.

[Polybius]

16. That one I wouldn't mind

Because at the time, there were still many ex-slaves that were alive.

[oldsoftie]

6. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

[newdayneeded]

7. I'll take,

"the policy that cost democrats every election for the following 40 years" for 800 Alex.

[intheflow]

8. Yes, it won't pass AND

Last edited Thu May 18, 2023, 10:56 AM - Edit history (1)

if we start now we might be able to normalize the idea and get it passed in 50 years... the same amount of time it took conservatives to normalize and overturn Roe. Better than waiting for never to introduce/normalize enslaved Americans' reparations.

As an aside, did you (anyone reading this) know that reparations were paid after the Civil War? To the former slave-holders.

[Bayard]

10. Sorry

But I think reparations have to start with Indigenous people. With the escalating national debt, the answer may be to start giving some of the land back to them that was shamelessly stolen.

[inwiththenew]

12. $14 Trillion - that's the price tag on it

I didn't see that in the article but the one I was reading on NPR had that.

[newdayneeded]

13. if this passed tomorrow

Biden would officially be the last democratic president in the next 50+ years.

I'm afraid just seeing these dem politicians attached to this proposal will be in every repub ad starting this election cycle.

14 Trillion bucks! SMH! As a Democrat even I'd be pissed, my family has zero to do with slaves or slave ownership.

[XorXor]

14. That's a lot of money. What was the system that was proposing?

I'm curious to see the math behind that and explanation for why those numbers were selected

[Polybius]

17. I'll support it, but only with this clause:

"Reparations will be paid to any former slave that is still alive."

[Zorro]

18. Barbara Lee just conceded her Senate race