Posted on 04/01/2016 4:30:21 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., recently said Congress should look at moving forward on legislation to consider reparations for slavery.
Though hardly a firm commitment to compensatory payments for African-Americans, the remark was nonetheless a striking election-year pronouncement from the U.S. Senate candidate and top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.
Van Hollen made the little-noted comment Jan. 27 on WHUT-TV, the public television station at historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C. His remarks came as a response to host Rock Newman, who lamented federal lawmakers refusal to vote on a longstanding bill from Rep. John Conyers, D-MI, establishing a commission to study slaverys enduring effects and make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies.
Noting that Conyers first introduced his bill in 1989, Newman asked, What does it say about Congress as an institution that it wont at least examine that issue?
Well, first of all, Van Hollen said, we can never totally erase the original sin, the evil of slavery, but we should do everything in our power to address the challenges that have come about because of that. I applaud Congressman Conyers for that legislation. I think we need to look at moving forward on that.
Van Hollen argued that America must take more immediate action to reduce inequality, but that doesnt preclude pursuit of reparations in the future. It seems to me we can pursue both paths, the congressman said.
InsideSources asked Van Hollens Democratic rival for the Senate, Rep. Donna Edwards, whether she supported the Conyers bill in specific and reparations in general. In an emailed statement, Edwards said, Congressman Conyers effort to study the impact of slavery on black families living today would be an important addition to the conversation on how to achieve equality in this country.
Like Van Hollen, she went on to stress the need to focus on the problems facing communities of color today, and that means making targeted investments by census tract in all our communities, ending the militarization of our local police forces, fixing a broken criminal justice system, and giving people a second chance to rebuild their lives.
Conyers has introduced his legislation, H.R. 40, at the start of every Congress for more than a quarter century, with the number 40 evoking the 40 acres and a mule promised to freed slaves after the Civil War. Its never gotten any traction, but Atlantic writer Ta-Nehisi Coates thrust the issue back into national discourse in 2014 with his celebrated article The Case for Reparations.
A country curious about how reparations might actually work has an easy solution in Conyerss bill, Coates wrote. We would support this bill, submit the question to study, and then assess the possible solutions. But we are not interested.
But two years later, the issue of reparations has popped up in the contest to choose the Democratic Partys presidential nominee, with Bernie Sanders facing tough questioning, led by Coates, after the Vermont senator dismissed the idea earlier this year. The senator has continued to catch flak for it, including in a well-publicized appearance at a Minnesota forum on black America. One panelist accused Sanders, who has struggled to win black voters in his primary campaign against Hillary Clinton, of being afraid even to use the terms black and reparations.
Ive said black 50 times, Sanders said later in the event, shouting into his microphone. Thats the 51st time.
Like Sanders, Van Hollen is a white candidate who needs strong black support to prevail, especially up against Edwards, a black woman running explicitly on her race and gender.
Wednesday was the congresswomans turn on Rock Newmans show, and she talked at length about her lived experiences as black woman, even recalling the Afro she sported earlier in life. Asked about racism and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, she said the business moguls very frustrated, very angry supporters are legitimately upset about being left out of the economy. However, she also criticized Trumps racial rhetoric.
Hes pointing a finger, Edwards said, and unfortunately hes pointing that finger to immigrants, communities of color, women whove moved into the economy, black folk, and really he should be pointing the finger at himself the one percent that has ripped off working people, that traded jobs outside of the United States.
Edwards specifically condemned Trump for the now infamous CNN interview where he declined to condemn the Ku Klux Klan and its former leader, David Duke, who endorsed his White House bid.
Donald Trump went to some of the finest universities in the country, the congresswoman said. He knows exactly who the KKK is. He knows who David Duke is.
When it comes to Trumps racial politics, she added, Its not a dog whistle anymore. Its like a bullhorn.
For his part, Van Hollen also addressed Trump with Newman, calling the mogul such a reckless choice for president that I think any of the Democratic nominees
could win that race. He agreed with the host that Trump is tapping into racism, and called his style of politics un-American.
LBJ already did that.
He bought votes with the money and doomed the recipients of the reparations to a life of despair.
TRUE
I liked the old one much better. Hehehe. d;^)
Screw these grifters.
I self-identify as black... now where do we get these ‘reparations’?
Ive said black 50 times, Sanders said...
So have I. In the past month. Only probably in a more colorful way.
I hope Hillary or Bernie change their minds and pull for reparations in the generals.
I am actually for it if it would mean all race based affirmative action and race based welfare ends on the day reparations are paid. It needs to been in the constitutions as an amendment and not a bill.
How can an active duty officer endorse a political candidate?
Is South Africa going to pay us for taking a bunch of their losers and put them on our welfare rolls? I would support that.
I will only agree to reparations if citizenship is renounce and they immigrate back to Africa.
I firmly believe in reparations. Anyone who was a slave deserves the 40 acres and a mule. I could even support giving it to their children. But after three or four generations, it isn’t reparations, it is pay off money to keep them from burning civilization down.
This will be the root cause of CWII.
The 40 acres part of the offer is no longer available but I’d be glad to provide a mule for him so I can say I’ve seen an ass riding an ass.
There’s all kinds of land in Alaska.
I’m probably going to end up with one of these Nobel Laureates as my next Senator. Unngghh
There’s all kinds of nearly worthless Federally owned land out West.
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