President Donald Trump has attracted a larger share of black voters than any Republican presidential candidate in living memory. Even though no Democratic politician ever called Trump a racist before he got into politics – and many of them knew him personally – many made it their first line of attack almost from the moment he announced that he was running for the White House. The accusation was, and is to this day, entirely unfounded, and the Democratic Party has been hemorrhaging black supporters ever since. That may be the reason for a renewed push – this time at the federal level – for reparations.
Clearly, a significant number of black Americans are not convinced that the president harbors racial animus toward them. For some Democrats, there is a choice to be made. Put in the time, money, and effort to convince black people – and prove to them – that you really do have their best interests at heart. Or lure them to vote for you with the promise of free money disguised as a call for reparations to compensate the descendants of slaves for past injustice.
Of course, the latter strategy assumes that blacks can simply be bought, which is insulting in itself. Still, several Democrats have decided this is the way to go.
Conflict of Interest for Black Democrats?
Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) is expected to introduce a reparations resolution within days, touting it as a “moral and legal obligation” for Americans. Lee, along with Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Hank Johnson (D-GA), plus Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and others, on May 13, took part in a congressional briefing: “We Can’t Wait: Advancing Reparative Justice in Our Lifetime.”
It is ironic that black Democrats, elected to the legislative branch of the federal government and thus hardly the victims of the systemic racism they often bemoan, would be advocating for a massive financial windfall from which they will personally benefit.
Booker and Pressley have recently been promoting the idea of a reparations commission, which would be established through their proposed legislation and be called the “Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act.”
Pressley has accused the Trump administration of a “coordinated, years-long effort to dismantle any policy that uplifts Black folks and addresses America’s shameful history of systemic racism.” Given that Trump has been back in the White House for just about four months, the allegation is curious. It can only be assumed that the congresswoman is referring to the cancellation of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and offices that sprang up across the federal government during the Biden years. Pressley cited no other examples of the alleged discriminatory measures.
Who Gets Reparations?
In a country of more than 347 million people, of which an estimated 48.3 million people “self-identify as black,” as the Pew Research Center puts it, the distribution of reparations would be a herculean task – even assuming it was a fair and justified project to begin with. Unless the entire process descended into rampant fraud and abuse, it would only be right to determine which Americans truly were descended from slaves or from victims of Jim Crow-era persecution.
Simply being dark-skinned should not be the qualifying factor. How many black people in the United States today are immigrants or the children or grandchildren of immigrants? Neither they nor their ancestors may have been in this country when slavery was practiced – or even perhaps in the segregation era. Why would those people be owed reparations?
Then, of course – because of generations of interracial relations – there are people who may not look black or even identify as black who might be descended from a slave or from a black person oppressed during those decades before the Civil Rights Act. They also should be eligible for a payout, even though they might appear to be white or Hispanic or Native.
Are the Democrats calling for reparations going to agree that every would-be recipient is required to provide DNA and/or documented proof of qualifying ancestry? The smart money says no, they will not. More likely, they will claim that such requirements would be racist.
It is an entirely impracticable and unworkable idea, even if one believes it is the right thing to do. There is also the simple argument that handing out money does not erase the stains of slavery or segregation.
It appears, in the cold and cynical light of reality, that this is another left-wing ploy to overwhelm the system and redistribute wealth. But the most immediate likely goal is to incentivize black Americans to vote for Democrats in 2026 and 2028.
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