Marianne Williamson nails the case for reparations. No, really.
This was an amazing moment at the presidential debate.
Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson methodically laid out the case for reparations during the party’s debate Tuesday night.
Moderator Don Lemon asked Williamson to explain the details of her previous call for “$500 billion in financial assistance” for slavery reparations.
“First of all, it’s not $500 billion in ‘financial assistance.’ It’s $500 billion — $200 to $500 billion — in payment of a debt that is owed. That’s what reparations is,” she said.
“We need to recognize that when it comes to the economic difference between blacks and whites in America, it does come from a great injustice that has never been dealt with,” she continued.
“That great injustice has had to do with the fact that there was 250 years of slavery, followed by another 100 years of domestic terrorism. What makes me qualified to say $200 to $500 billion? I’ll tell you what makes me qualified. If you did the math of the 40 acres and a mule, given that there was 4 to 5 million slaves at the end of the Civil War, and they were all promised 40 acres and a mule for every family of four, if you did the math today it would be trillions of dollars, and I believe that anything less than $100 billion is an insult, and I believe that $200 to $500 billion is politically feasible today because so many American realize there is an injustice that continues to form a toxicity underneath the surface, an emotional turbulence that only reparations will deal with.”
Top Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, are currently supporting legislation that would study reparations for the descendants of slaves.
While Republicans and their leaders continue to indulge in racist excess, Democrats and their presidential candidates are addressing ways to counteract the legacy of the worst type of racism.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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