Booker introduces bill to create commission on slavery reparations

[Mr. Morden]

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2019/04/09/cory-booker-introduce-reparations-bill-senate/3408903002/

On Tuesday, Booker formally filed a bill in the Senate that would form a commission to explore reparations proposals for African American descendants of slavery, according to a statement. The bill is a companion version of a House bill introduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas. The bill was first introduced in 1989 by Rep. John Conyers.

"Since slavery in this country, we have had overt policies fueled by white supremacy and racism that have oppressed African Americans economically for generations," Booker said in a statement. "Many of our bedrock domestic policies that have ushered millions of Americans into the middle class have systematically excluded blacks through practices like GI Bill discrimination and redlining."

[heatcharger]

Some people really wanna lose this election and every subsequent one too.

[standwrand]

In which Booker becomes even more irrelevant than he already was

[RINO Tom]

While it is a nice "we're sorry" gesture by the Democratic Party (I'm joking, calm down!), this is hilarious.  We knew it was just a matter of time!

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Yeah, heaven forbid your country tries to rebalance its deliberate legacy of racist exploitation and destitution that has left an entire group of people at a significant and extreme disadvantage compared to pretty much everyone else. But equal opportunity right?

[Rookie Yinzer]

Yeah, heaven forbid your country tries to rebalance its deliberate legacy of racist exploitation and destitution that has left an entire group of people at a significant and extreme disadvantage compared to pretty much everyone else. But equal opportunity right?

[Woody]

Yeah, heaven forbid your country tries to rebalance its deliberate legacy of racist exploitation and destitution that has left an entire group of people at a significant and extreme disadvantage compared to pretty much everyone else. But equal opportunity right?

Slavery was abolished 150 years ago. Time to move on.

[Grassroots]

entire group of people at a significant and extreme disadvantage compared to pretty much everyone else

Not really but ok.

In which Booker becomes even more irrelevant than he already was

[Nightcore Nationalist]

Yeah, heaven forbid your country tries to rebalance its deliberate legacy of racist exploitation and destitution that has left an entire group of people at a significant and extreme disadvantage compared to pretty much everyone else. But equal opportunity right?

How much money should be siphoned out of people's bank account for no reason whatsoever?

[Catholics vs. Convicts]

Some people really wanna lose this election and every subsequent one too.

[James Monroe]

Yeah, heaven forbid your country tries to rebalance its deliberate legacy of racist exploitation and destitution that has left an entire group of people at a significant and extreme disadvantage compared to pretty much everyone else. But equal opportunity right?

Too many privilege people here to not understand how this issue would be beneficial in the African-American community. We still haven't erased the trauma that slavery brought to many black families that come to America through illegal trade. It's time to push this agenda so that African American families can earn the dignity that their ancestors weren't offered in their time.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

Yeah, heaven forbid your country tries to rebalance its deliberate legacy of racist exploitation and destitution that has left an entire group of people at a significant and extreme disadvantage compared to pretty much everyone else. But equal opportunity right?

Slavery was abolished 150 years ago. Time to move on.

The actual slaves were promised reparations after the Civil War. Thanks to Andrew Johnson's obstruction of Congressional reconstruction, those reparations never happened. Not only did they not happen, but all of the rapid progress made towards racial equality, where former slaves were being elected to state and federal offices, was halted and reversed by the very traitors who instigated the Civil War to begin with. The former slaves and their descendants lived for 100 years under a system of legal discrimination, not only in the South, but all over the country. Legal discrimination that any Black American over the age of 55 today was subject to.

So, you have reparations that should have been paid at the time, and never were, the dismantling of the legal framework that would have given the former slaves real political power and a chance pulling themselves up, and a century of continued brute injustice, the effects of which are still felt today.

I don't see why we shouldn't at least explore the issue.

[YE]

Some people really wanna lose this election and every subsequent one too.

[Cashew]

Yeah, heaven forbid your country tries to rebalance its deliberate legacy of racist exploitation and destitution that has left an entire group of people at a significant and extreme disadvantage compared to pretty much everyone else. But equal opportunity right?

Slavery was abolished 150 years ago. Time to move on.

The actual slaves were promised reparations after the Civil War. Thanks to Andrew Johnson's obstruction of Congressional reconstruction, those reparations never happened. Not only did they not happen, but all of the rapid progress made towards racial equality, where former slaves were being elected to state and federal offices, was halted and reversed by the very traitors who instigated the Civil War to begin with. The former slaves and their descendants lived for 100 years under a system of legal discrimination, not only in the South, but all over the country. Legal discrimination that any Black American over the age of 55 today was subject to.

So, you have reparations that should have been paid at the time, and never were, the dismantling of the legal framework that would have given the former slaves real political power and a chance pulling themselves up, and a century of continued brute injustice, the effects of which are still felt today.

I don't see why we shouldn't at least explore the issue.

If you advocate "wealth redistribution to help neglected neighborhoods catch up" that's one thing, using the word "reparations" on the other hand is literally insane. Using that word doesn't improve the standard of living for anybody, and electorally all it does is harm Democrats. This failure to dog whistle will needlessly create more problems for Democrats down the line.

[7,052,770]

Let's start with the Freedom Dividend first.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

Yeah, heaven forbid your country tries to rebalance its deliberate legacy of racist exploitation and destitution that has left an entire group of people at a significant and extreme disadvantage compared to pretty much everyone else. But equal opportunity right?

Slavery was abolished 150 years ago. Time to move on.

The actual slaves were promised reparations after the Civil War. Thanks to Andrew Johnson's obstruction of Congressional reconstruction, those reparations never happened. Not only did they not happen, but all of the rapid progress made towards racial equality, where former slaves were being elected to state and federal offices, was halted and reversed by the very traitors who instigated the Civil War to begin with. The former slaves and their descendants lived for 100 years under a system of legal discrimination, not only in the South, but all over the country. Legal discrimination that any Black American over the age of 55 today was subject to.

So, you have reparations that should have been paid at the time, and never were, the dismantling of the legal framework that would have given the former slaves real political power and a chance pulling themselves up, and a century of continued brute injustice, the effects of which are still felt today.

I don't see why we shouldn't at least explore the issue.

If you advocate "wealth redistribution to help neglected neighborhoods catch up" that's one thing, using the word "reparations" on the other hand is literally insane. Using that word doesn't improve the standard of living for anybody, and electorally all it does is harm Democrats. This failure to dog whistle will needlessly create more problems for Democrats down the line.

I think Pete Buttigieg has it right, that simply handing out checks to everyone based on skin color isn't going to fly, nor is it going to solve anything. And he advocates programs to help disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Personally, I think it's absurd to think that a cash handout is going to fix our current problems of systemic injustice, or that it will make up for centuries of institutionalized brutality, dehumanization, and discrimination. I also don't think people should be punished for the sins of their great-grandfathers' great-grandfathers. There's plenty of sin to go around today, and that's where the conversation should start.

[PaperKooper]

Making Group A pay Group B for what Group C did to Group D will be *super* popular in the general election, I'm sure. Glad to see the Dems are insistent on tanking their own chances.

[RINO Tom]

Yeah, heaven forbid your country tries to rebalance its deliberate legacy of racist exploitation and destitution that has left an entire group of people at a significant and extreme disadvantage compared to pretty much everyone else. But equal opportunity right?

Too many privilege people here to not understand how this issue would be beneficial in the African-American community. We still haven't erased the trauma that slavery brought to many black families that come to America through illegal trade. It's time to push this agenda so that African American families can earn the dignity that their ancestors weren't offered in their time.

How long into the future are we doing this?  Obviously, no one alive owned slaves and therefore deserves to suffer consequences for people doing so 150 years ago, so you are suggesting this on the grounds that Black Americans are inherently disadvantaged in our society because their ancestors were slaves.  Fair argument.  Do we do this indefinitely?  That would obviously be ridiculous ... it's not like modern Italians are paying reparations to Germans because the Romans enslaved Germanic peoples...

[User155815470020]

Yeah, heaven forbid your country tries to rebalance its deliberate legacy of racist exploitation and destitution that has left an entire group of people at a significant and extreme disadvantage compared to pretty much everyone else. But equal opportunity right?

Slavery was abolished 150 years ago. Time to move on.

Slavery has not existed as an institution for over a century, but the impacts of it (disproportionate criminal sentencing and reduced cumulative wealth since the end of Slavery in 1865/Jim Crow in 1965) still exist. I am a white man and I don't personally think reparations are the best way to empower and enfranchise black people (I personally lean towards Universal Basic Income, Medicare-for-All, and legalization of drugs to accomplish that), but it is foolish to oppose reparations solely on the grounds that 'Slavery is done. Move on.' The issue is more complicated than that, and I applaud Booker for attempting to resolve the issue.

[Lincoln Republican]

I am so excited about this.

I can hardly wait to hand over large checks to every black player in the NBA, the NFL, and the MLB.

[Rookie Yinzer]

I am so excited about this.

I can hardly wait to hand over large checks to every black player in the NBA and the NFL.

The ignorance.

[Lincoln Republican]

https://www.newsweek.com/slavery-reparations-could-cost-14-trillion-according-new-calculation-364141

This plan would cost taxpayers $14 trillion.

I am certain taxpayers believe any cost for this plan is worth it. 

[Mr. Smith]

He oughta wait until the Senate flips before trying this.

[Mr. Morden]

He oughta wait until the Senate flips before trying this.

Not if the purpose of this is to aid his effort to win the Democratic nomination for president.

[here2view]

This is all for show. No substance. There are FAR more meaningful things we can do to address current issues relating to the African-American community than this.