The United States is continuing to have to confront its racist past thanks to it not being confined to the past in the first place thanks to President Donald Trump. Some leading progressives have voiced support for reparations for the descendants of enslaved black Americans to make up some ground against this racism, but this week in D.C., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would not support such a proposal in part because the U.S. had already elected a black president (Barack Obama) — so apparently the issue is all closed up or something? This is like applying the “I’m not racist; I have a black friend!!” argument to national policy.
McConnell told reporters:
‘I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago for whom none of us currently living are responsible is a good idea. We tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a civil war, by passing landmark civil rights legislation. We’ve elected an African-American president.’
Watch:
McConnell: “I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 yrs ago for whom none of us currently living are responsible is a good idea. We’ve tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a civil war …We’ve elected an African American president.”
Via ABC pic.twitter.com/yGQLpeyHGz— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 18, 2019
Structural racism embedded in United States culture that got its start via slavery didn’t vanish because Barack Obama became president. Across the country, black Americans still struggle against the weight of decades and centuries-old dismissals of them as supposedly unfit for anywhere but the bottom of the societal barrel — but since Obama became president, McConnell might want us to think that black Americans had their due and should sit down and shut up or something.
If he doesn’t think that reparations for slavery are such a good idea, it would be great if he could share what he does think is a “good idea” for Congress to pursue since for some reason, he’s repeatedly publicly prided himself on responding to legislative initiatives like a “Grim Reaper,” consistently refusing to let more than 100 of these initiatives proceed in his chamber. He wasn’t elected to hold press conferences; even the most avid Republicans in Kentucky no doubt had him actually doing something in mind when they cast their vote for him.
Numerous colleagues of his have voiced support for reparations dealt to the descendants of slaves, although leading Democratic presidential candidate and California U.S. Senator Kamala Harris said the term “means different things to different people.” Fellow leading candidate and Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has generally derided the idea of reparations, but even he — along with almost every other declared presidential candidate among members of Congress — has signed onto legislation calling for the establishment of “a commission… to examine the lasting impact of slavery, and make recommendations on appropriate remedies.” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) introduced the latest bill version of that decades-long push this January, and Democratic presidential contender Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) has introduced a companion piece in the Senate.
This week, the House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will be holding a hearing on the issue for the first time in twelve years. There are a number of high-profile witnesses slated to attend, including actor Danny Glover, author Ta-Nehisi Coates, documentary maker Katrina Brown, Episcopal Bishop of Maryland Eugene Taylor Sutton, economist Julianne Malveaux, and Loyola Law School professor Eric Miller.
Featured Image via screenshot
