PHILADELPHIA — Vice President Kamala Harris gave no clear answer Tuesday during a high-profile softball interview with the National Association of Black Journalists when asked about her support for slavery reparations.
NABJ host and Politico reporter Eugene Daniels noted that the Democratic presidential candidate supports Democrats' call for “President Biden to create a commission” that would provide input on a reparations “initiative.”
“As president, will you take separate steps to establish this commission or do you believe it should be established by Congress?” Daniels asked the vice president, who responded with his usual ramblings.
“We need to tell the truth about the generational impacts of our history in terms of the generational impacts of slavery, the generational impacts of redlining and Jim Crow laws,” Harris said.
“I could go on and on,” she added. “These are impactful facts, and we need to tell the truth about them. And we need to tell the truth in a way that leads to solutions.”
As a senator, Senator Harris co-sponsored a bill that would authorize the creation of a federal commission to, in Daniels' words, “study the history of slavery in the United States” and explore the possibility of paying reparations to black Americans.
“I think ultimately Congress has the ability to do this work,” Harris told Daniels. “I'm not denying the importance of an executive order, but ultimately it's Congress, because if we're going to have a substantive discussion on this, there will be hearings, there will be a level of public education and dialogue.”
“And I think that's part of the spirit behind the Congress' actions to date,” she added.
Without naming names, Harris also said there was a need to “tell the truth” about “so-called leaders” who claim “slaves profited from slavery.”
This is likely a reference to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Harris was publicly attacked. for New guidelines approved Regarding last year's bill on teaching about slavery in public schools.
