We need a debate over reparations until inequality is no longer with us: Today's talker

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties held a hearing on reparations for slavery. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., was among the witnesses testifying.

Sen. Cory Booker speaks the truth

By Bruce Lowry

Years ago, during a meeting with The Record editorial board, I recall then-Mayor Cory Booker almost tearing up as he told stories of an elementary school in one of Newark’s poorest neighborhoods. The school lacked resources, he said, and was in physical disrepair due to neglect.

He related how “it breaks my heart to walk into a classroom and see the children stand, put hands to their hearts and say the Pledge of Allegiance, say the words ‘liberty and justice for all’ and to know that it’s a lie.”

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That story, that heartbreak, was Booker’s way of explaining that liberty and justice in America, too often, are not for all, but only for some. It was his way of saying that despite strides, we still suffer the effects of a great racial divide, and from income inequality.

That divide, that inequality, are still with us, and they were seared into Booker’s mind and heart again on Wednesday as he testified before a House subcommittee to speak in favor of reparations for slavery.

“I say that I am brokenhearted and angry right now,” Booker said, “(about) decades of living in a community where you see how deeply unfair this nation is still, to so many people who struggle, who work hard, who do everything right but who still find themselves, disproportionately, with lead in their water, Superfunds in their neighborhoods, schools that don’t serve their genius, and health care disparities that affect their body and their well-being.”

Booker, a Democrat and one of just three African Americans in the U.S. Senate — there have been only 10 overall — is a prime sponsor of the reparations bill introduced in that chamber. It would, among other things, “address the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery in the United States” and “establish a commission to study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations.”

The fact that there has been such an outcry already sort of makes Booker’s point about the need for the bill. The rush to condemn it is part of “the silence” Booker spoke of on Wednesday, part of a nation’s refusal to own up to its violent, racist past, or to its unjust present.

No, I don’t know how any sort of “reparations program” would work, and neither does anyone else. I don’t know, for instance, whether I, a descendant of slave owners, would be moved to the front of the line to write a check. But that’s not really the point.

The point is the reckoning, the recognition, on this 400th anniversary of the arrival of African slaves at the Jamestown colony in Virginia, that remnants of slavery continue to haunt our nation today. The injustices that still exist among our black population today, from health care disparity to inadequate schools to higher rates of unemployment, all date to our original sin of slavery.

No doubt, there will be more to come on the reparations issue, more voices speaking loudly and rudely against even having the conversation.

Booker is right, though: We must have the conversation.

Bruce Lowry is editorial page editor for The Record and NorthJersey.com, where this column originally appeared. Follow him on Twitter @BruceLowry21

What others are saying

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., CNN: "African Americans were purposefully deprived of opportunity, the ability to exercise their rights, equal access to education, health care, public facilities and other programs. The civil rights movement of the '60s made important progress, but discrimination and the long-term effects of segregation still linger."

Jason Nichols, Fox News: "The disgraceful failure of the U.S. government to at least examine the issue of such reparations until now for the descendants of people who were treated like animals and denied the most basic human rights long ago is no excuse to continue ignoring the issue."

David Leonhardt, The New York Times: "In (a) poll, people were given a list of 14 economic policies and asked how much they thought each would help the black community. The list was full of progressive ideas: paid leave and better workplace benefits; a higher minimum wage; a federal jobs guarantee; stronger laws against discrimination; reparations for descendants of slaves; and more. On a straight up-or-down basis, a majority of black Americans favored every one of the 14 policies. But there was a fairly wide gap in how much they thought each would help. At the top of the list were a higher minimum wage, stronger discrimination laws and better workplace benefits and training. About 70% of respondents said each of those would help 'a great deal.' "

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, news conference: "I don't think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago, for whom none of us who are currently living are responsible, is a good idea. We tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a Civil War, by passing landmark civil rights legislation, elected an African-American president. I think we're always a work in progress in this country, but no one currently alive was responsible for that, and I don't think we should be trying to figure out how to compensate for it. First of all, it would be pretty hard to figure out who to compensate. We've had waves of immigrants as well who have come to the country and experienced dramatic discrimination of one kind or another. So no, I don't think reparations are a good idea."

What our readers are saying

We must realize that there is no way to atone for the evil of slavery. Giving money to descendants of slaves isn't going to address the core of the issue and will not move the country forward.

— John Eichler

Should we decide reparations are needed, where do we stop? Are the Irish immigrants, Chinese immigrants and Native Americans any less deserving? They, too, were abused to grow this country.

— Bill Loftus

What about Native Americans?

— Paula Byrd

Totally agree! There should be reparations for every actual decedent of slavery we can find.

— Dennis R Sullivan

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: We need a debate over reparations until inequality is no longer with us: Today's talker