Highest-Ranking Black Congressman Blows Huge Hole in Warren, Harris Pro-Reparations Agenda
House Majority Whip James Clyburn, the highest ranking African-American in Congress, is rejecting the pro-reparations agenda backed by Democratic presidential candidates.
It seems as though Democratic presidential contenders are in a competition to be the most crazed, left-wing candidate possible, with Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, among others, expressing their support for reparations for black Americans for the days of slavery and Jim Crow segregation.
Last month, The New York Times reported that Warren supports “reparations for black Americans impacted by slavery.”
“We must confront the dark history of slavery and government-sanctioned discrimination in this country that has had many consequences, including undermining the ability of black families to build wealth in America for generations,” Warren told The Times.
“We need systemic, structural changes to address that,” she added.
Elizabeth Warren Backs Government Reparations for African Americans https://t.co/kL8ikXEG6w via @JackRCrowe pic.twitter.com/EPGlFujiOZ
— National Review (@NRO) February 22, 2019
Harris also implied support for reparations in a statement given to The Times.
“We have to be honest that people in this country do not start from the same place or have access to the same opportunities, and I’m serious about taking an approach that would change policies and structures and make real investments in black communities,” Harris’ statement read.
However, it’s important to note that Harris seemed to step away from the prospect of a policy that only benefits African Americans only a few days after her statement.
Regardless of their degree of support for reparations, the establishment media zealously reported the candidates’ flirtation with the expensive policy.
But Clyburn slammed the idea of reparations in an interview with The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina, on Tuesday.
“I think pure reparations would be impossible to implement,” Clyburn said. “But we can deal with the issue (of racial inequality) if we just admit, first of all, that it exists and then come up with some straightforward ways to deal with it.”
The South Carolina representative blew a hole in reparations by pointing out that a lot of people — including white people — could take advantage of the system by claiming one of their ancestors was a slave.
“Is that a fair way to do it?” Clyburn said. “I say not.”
Obviously, giving white people monetary compensation is not the intention of reparations, but the reality is that a lot of white people had black ancestors who were slaves.
Instead of reparations, Clyburn suggested an alternative method for using federal funds.
Under Clyburn’s 10-20-30 proposal, 10 percent of funds in specific government programs would be earmarked for counties where at least 20 percent of the population has lived below the poverty line for the past 30 years.
(It was an idea backed by during the 2016 presidential campaign by both Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and then-House Speaker Paul Ryan, according to a Politico report from August 2016, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders backed it in during a CNN town hall meeting last week. Don’t expect it to adopted any time soon as long as President Donald Trump is in the White House.)
Regardless of Clyburn’s proposal, the fact that such a high-profile African-American lawmaker has come out so strongly against a proposal backed by Democratic candidates desperately trying to securie the African-American vote is bad news for the Democratic Party, which already seems to be fragmenting as ultra-leftists keep increasing their power.
Clyburn’s own policy proposal is bad, but it’s not as stupid or utterly impractical as the idea of “reparations” for the actions of generations past.
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