Addressing the media on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) explained his opposition to reparations for slavery, stating “no one currently alive was responsible for that.”
As Breitbart News reported, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will hold a hearing on reparations Wednesday and receive testimony from left-wing Hollywood actor Danny Glover and author Ta-Nehisi Coates, who wrote the book The Case for Reparations. The Associated Press notes the objective of the hearing is “to examine, through open and constructive discourse, the legacy of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, its continuing impact on the community and the path to restorative justice.” Earlier this year, subcommittee member Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) reintroduced H.R. 40 to establish a commission to study reparations.
Several 2020 White House contenders, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and former Rep. Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke (D-TX) have all endorsed exploring the issue more in-depth.
A transcript is as follows:
REPORTER: There’s going to be a hearing on reparations for slavery tomorrow. I’m wondering where do you stand on that issue. Do you believe in reparations for slavery and, if not, should there be an apology from Congress or from the president in recognition of the theft of labor.
MAJORITY LEADER MCCONNELL: 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’ve 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. I think we’re always a work in progress in this country, but no one currently alive is responsible for that and I don’t think we should be trying to figure out how to compensate for it. First of all, it’s hard to figure out who to compensate. Waves of immigrants who’ve come to the country as well and experiences dramatic discrimination of one kind or another. So no, I don’t think reparations are a good idea.