New York state lawmakers are calling on the federal government to move forward with a $14 trillion reparations package.
The bill is being touted by “Squad” member Rep. Jamal Bowman of New York, who wants to hold the federal government accountable for slavery and its aftermath. According to Journal News.
Bowman cited the federal government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts in the Space Race as examples of what could make this measure possible.
“When COVID-19 was destroying us, we invested in the American people in a way that kept our economy afloat,” Bowman said. “Governments can invest in reparations in the same way without raising taxes on anyone.”
“Where did the money come from?” Bowman said. “We spent it making it exist.”
Bowman is among them. 9 sponsors of HR 414The bill states that the United States has a “moral and legal obligation to provide reparations for the enslavement of Africans and the lasting harm it inflicts on the lives of millions of Black people in the United States.” I'm trying to establish that.
The measure, introduced in 2023, would send the federal government $14 trillion to reparations programs to help descendants of enslaved Black people and people of African descent.
According to census figures, black people make up 12% of the U.S. population.
The bill was reportedly introduced 30 years after another bill aimed at creating a federal commission to consider reparations.
A measure to establish a federal commission on the impact of reparations was reintroduced this year, and Mr. Bowman is its sponsor.
This bill would address concerns about racial disparities in housing, mass incarceration, and educational outcomes, and would, as the bill states, “increase the racial wealth that currently exists between black and white Americans.” It has the potential to eliminate disparities in
Bowman added, “Incarcerated people should be able to vote.”
“And I definitely think that once they're published, they should be automatically entitled,” he said.
“To put the price tag in perspective, the federal government spent about $7 trillion in 2020, about 28% of the $25 trillion U.S. economy,” the Journal News reported.
Bowman believes $14 trillion could be distributed over decades.
“Who said we had to pay $14 trillion all at once?” Bowman said.
“You might be able to pay it off over five, 10, 20 years. You could split that $333,000 into X number of monthly checks. There are creative ways.”
The bill cites scholars' estimates that the United States benefited from more than 222 trillion hours of forced labor between 1619 and the abolition of slavery in 1865, “which is equivalent to 97 billion hours of forced labor in today's dollars. equivalent to US dollars.”
“246 years of free labor has generated trillions or even hundreds of trillions of dollars for the U.S. economy,” Bowman said. “If slavery didn't build the economy, we wouldn't have the economy we have today.”
The bill has no sponsor in the Senate.
Bowman's office did not respond to requests for comment.
This is the latest attempt to promote reparations at the federal level. Similar efforts are underway in blue states across the country, including San Francisco.
New York state established a commission in December to consider how best to provide compensation to descendants of slaves.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation for a “Regional Commission to Study New York State's History of Slavery” to consider “various forms of reparations.”
