WASHINGTON (TND) — The debate over reparations for slavery has made its way into the presidential election.
Third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised to give $5 billion in reparations to black farmers if he won the election.
That $5 million is not title money, it's loan money that black farmers were entitled to a long time ago, and it was stolen,” RFK Jr. said on the podcast.
Courts have already ruled a similar effort by the Biden administration unconstitutional.
This comes as states and local governments across the country step up reparations efforts.
The Boston People's Reparations Committee is demanding that the city pay reparations. $15 billion To black residents. They are also seeking $50 million in donations from Boston's traditionally white churches.
In California, the state legislature last week publicly apologized for the state's role in supporting slavery.
Meanwhile, a New Jersey group is preparing to release a comprehensive analysis of what reparations should ideally look like. The final report is scheduled to be released on June 11th.
Duke economist and reparations advocate William Darity advocates for a federal program rather than state or local programs. Darity told MarketWatch that the federal reparations program would cost $16 trillion. For reference, the US federal government's annual budget was only $6.2 trillion in 2023.
Nearly 70% of black Americans support cash transfers, according to a YouGov poll. However, overall support for reparations has fallen by 9% over four years. Currently, only 30% of Americans agree with this idea.
