Black leaders across America have long rallied for reparation payments to Blacks. Payments are intended to help compensate Black individuals and families for slavery and racial discrimination.
But the controversy over reparations rages. Americans stand on both sides of this polarizing issue. According to Tatishe Nteta of UMass/Amherst, who began polling Americans about reparations several years ago, two-thirds of all Americans oppose cash payments to the descendants of slaves. Full disclosure, Professor Nteta is Black.
WHAT ARE REPARATIONS?
Reparation is defined as the making of amends for a wrong done by paying money or to otherwise help those who have been wronged. Reparation is not a new concept. The U.S. approved reparation payments in 1988 for Japanese Americans who were incarcerated in camps during WWII. Survivors were given a check and an apology.
In 2021, Evanston, Illinois, became the first city to pay reparation to Blacks. Qualifying households received $25,000 for home repairs or a down payment on a home. That program was funded through a marijuana sales tax. But sources of funding for reparations vary.
More than 10 other cities and a few counties are actively taking steps toward paying reparations. California’s reparations task force said the plan could cost the state more than $800 billion. The problem is that the current state budget is only $300 billion.
WHAT DO REPARATIONS LOOK LIKE?
In North Carolina, Durham has already included $6 million in next year’s budget for “green and equitable infrastructure in historically Black neighborhoods.” Also, Ashville has committed $2.1 million toward funding reparation payments to descendants of enslaved people.
For other cities, reparations will take the form of workforce training and financial literacy, as well as funding for education, housing, and healthcare programs. However, Affirmative Action, racial quotas, and preference in hiring were all considered forms of reparations because Blacks were hired for better paying jobs or were accepted at universities.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION COSTS TO TAXPAYERS
Here’s the problem. Over 7 million illegal immigrants have entered the U.S. since Biden became president. And they cost money.
The House Committee on Homeland Security released a new report stating that every year “Americans could pay up to $451 billion to care for migrants who entered the US illegally.” Costs include housing, food, health care, education, and law enforcement.
If local, county, state, and federal governments will have to pay half a billion dollars a year for illegal immigrants, where will these government agencies get the money to pay reparations to Black individuals and families?
President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump both went to the border recently to assess the illegal immigration crisis. While Biden discussed climate change, Trump talked about homeless American veterans. We’re not even taking care of our own veteran heroes.
SANCTUARY CITIES
Sanctuary cities and states welcomed illegal immigrants with open arms. At least until they were overwhelmed. Now these cities and states are grappling with housing and feeding them, not to mention dealing with increased crime. It’s an expensive proposition. Illegal immigration costs are draining already strained budgets.
New York City, for example, is spending $53 million on pre-paid debit cards to illegal immigrants while 1 in 4 children in the city live in poverty. Chicago paid $138 million to care for illegal immigrants just in 2023 while the city’s homeless sleep on the streets. California recently became the first state to offer free health insurance to all illegal immigrants. State and federal lawmakers estimate the cost to California taxpayers at $3-$6 billion per year. And the list goes on.
WHERE IS THE MONEY FOR REPARATIONS GOING?
But for those who support reparation payments, where are they going to get the money to pay reparations to Black individuals and families who have been in this country for more than three and a half centuries when they are paying for basic living necessities to people who have been in the country for less than three and a half years?
I believe reparation payments meant for Black individuals and families will be paid to illegal immigrants instead.
Image from: washingtontimes.com/news
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