Rep. Jamaal Bowman proposed a $14 trillion reparations plan to address the lasting harm of enslavement on Black people in the United States, with the goal of eliminating the racial wealth gap.
He argued that the federal government can finance this without raising taxes.
The proposal, supported by H.R. 414, extends beyond slavery to include restitution for various discriminatory government policies.
“When COVID was destroying us, we invested in the American people in a way that kept the economy afloat,” Bowman wrote. “The government can invest the same way in reparations without raising taxes on anyone.”
“Where did the money come from?” he added. “We spent it into existence.”
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,” he said.
“Financial reparations must be paid by the Federal Government for an amount that respected economists have estimated totals, at minimum, $14,000,000,000,000 to eliminate the racial wealth gap that currently exists between Black and White Americans,” the bill reads.
The U.S. “benefited from 222,505,049 hours of forced labor between 1619 and the end of slavery in 1865, which would be valued at $97,000,000,000,000 today,” he added.
It also includes an estimate that each Black American could receive around $333,000 from the plan, to be paid over a period of time.
“Who says the $14 trillion needs to be paid out in one shot?” Bowman said. “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.”
“There are creative ways to do the right thing and do what needs to be done,” he said.
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