During a CNN town hall on Monday, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said she supported forming a congressional commission to address reparations for slavery and the “impact of discrimination” on “generation after generation.”
Warren said, “America was founded on principles of liberty and freedom and on the backs of slave labor. This is a stain on America and we’re not going to fix that. We’re not going to change that until we address it head on, directly. And make no mistake, it’s not just the original founding, it’s just what happened generation after generation. the impact of discrimination handed down from one to the next means that today in America, because of housing discrimination and employment discrimination, we live in a world where the average white family has $100, the average black family has about $5. So I believe it’s time to start the national full blown conversation about reparations in this country. And that means I support the bill in the House to appoint a Congressional panel of experts, people that are studying this and talk about different ways we may be able to do it and make a report back to Congress so that we can, as a nation, do what’s right and begin to heal.”
Host Jake Tapper asked, “If I could just follow up on Georgia’s question, you said you’re open to a conversation about reparations to the descendants of slaves and Native Americans? Might that include direct payments? Direct transfers of money?”
Warren said, “There’s a lot of ways to think about the way they should be formed. And I noticed Georgia’s question started with the frame of an apology and national recognition. We have a lot of experts around the country, a lot of activists that have a whole lot of different approaches to it and I think the best we can do right now, I love the idea of this congressional commission, let’s bring people together and let’s open that conversation as Americans. Let’s see what ideas people want to put on the table and let’s talk them through. Because I have to tell you, ignoring the problem is not working.”
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