Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) recently pitched a $14 trillion reparations plan “for the enslavement of Africans and its lasting harm on the lives of millions of Black people in the United States.”
The New York congressman called on the Biden administration to pay for the bill, claiming there’s a way to fund it “without raising taxes on anyone.”
In an interview with The Journal News, Bowman argued that if the federal government was able to allocate money to keep Americans “afloat” during the COVID-19 pandemic, then it could do the same to pass reparations for Black Americans.
“When COVID was destroying us, we invested in the American people in a way that kept the economy afloat,” Bowman told the outlet. “The government can invest the same way in reparations without raising taxes on anyone.”
“Where did the money come from?” Bowman added. “We spent it into existence.”
JUST IN: Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a "Squad" member from New York, is advocating for a $14 trillion reparations measure for slavery's descendants.
Creating trillions out of thin air? So, money just magically appears now it seems.
He argues that the government can fund this without… pic.twitter.com/WFhjjnPHkY
— Hank (@GCapital_LLC) January 18, 2024
Bowman is one of nine House Democrats who sponsored a resolution introduced by Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) in May 2023, recognizing that the U.S. “has a moral and legal obligation to provide reparations for the enslavement of Africans and its lasting harm on the lives of millions of Black people in the United States.”
Bush’s proposal goes further than slavery. It calls on the federal government to compensate Black Americans in different sectors, such as “banking, consumer, housing, health, education, and employment discrimination.”
The Missouri Democrat’s proposal cites America’s failure to “keep Black people safe from or actively sanctioning White domestic terrorism and failing to prosecute it when it occurred” and “the impacts of government-imposed segregation.”
The legislation calls on the federal government to pay over $14 trillion in reparations to “eliminate the racial wealth gap that currently exists between Black and White Americans.”
The Journal News calculated that if the left’s reparations plan passed, every Black American in the U.S. could receive more than $300,000. Bowman said such funds could be paid over some time.
“Who says the $14 trillion needs to be paid out in one shot?” the New York lawmaker asked. “It might be possible for it to be paid out over 5 or 10 or 20 years. You could take that $333,000 and break it up into monthly checks over X amount of time.”
