At the end of the Civil War formerly enslaved families were promised by Union leadership 40 acres and a mule -- an offer never fulfilled. Centuries later, the debate over reparations is playing out on the campaign trail.
Steps away from the U.S. Capitol -- a building built by slaves -- the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will hold its first hearing in more than a decade on the hot-button topic of reparations for the descendants of Africans brought to America, enslaved and impacted by discriminatory policies including segregation.
The appearance actor Danny Glover and award-winning author Ta-Nehisi Coates, whose 2014 essay"The Case for Reparations" thrust the divisive topic onto the national stage, are expected to testify, lending celebrity status to an issue that has been wending through Congress for decades. "Here we are in 2019 talking about it again. It is a sore spot for this nation," Johnson told ABC News in April."It is something that we must address, so we can get past this moment in time in a way in which the legacy of slavery, the legacy of segregation, the legacy of institutional racism can once in for all be done away with and we can all prosper as a nation as one whole community.
Jackson Lee's bill has more than 50 cosponsors, including at least three House Democrats running for president: Eric Swalwell of California, Tim Ryan of Ohio and Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. In early April, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., held a joint press conference with Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., to promote a 10/20/30 funding bill outside of the U.S. Capitol, a measure that seeks to allocate 10% of federal funds to invest into counties that have had a poverty level of at least 20% for over 30 years.
Another 2020 candidate who's been talking about reparations since 1997 is spiritual leader Marianne Williamson, who told ABC News Monday,"The whole idea of reparations, to me, has been an extension of a moral principle."
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