Duke University professor and co-author of reparations book demand the federal government pay $14 TRILLION to black Americans over a period of 10 years because it is ‘culpable for slavery and suppression of votes’
- Duke University professor William A. Darity and writer A. Kirsten Mullen argued the federal government should pay trillions as it is ‘culpable for slavery’
- The authors called for the massive payout as they claim the government is also responsible for voter suppression and racial segregation
- Their audacious suggestion comes as California’s reparations task force has proposed handing each black resident in the state $223,000
The authors of a book arguing for slavery reparations have demanded that the federal government should fork out an eye-watering $14 TRILLION to the cause.
Duke University professor William A. Darity and writer A. Kirsten Mullen called for the mammoth reparations payout as they argued that the federal government is ‘culpable for slavery.’
The duo, authors of the book ‘From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century’, added that the government should stump up the massive sum because it is ‘also the only entity that has the capacity to pay the debt’.
Their audacious suggestion comes as California’s reparations task force has proposed handing each black resident in the state $223,000.
Duke University professor William A. Darity and writer A. Kirsten Mullen argued that the federal government should pay $14 trillion for slavery reparations
Speaking in an interview with CNBC, Mullen said the federal government should foot the bill for the reparations spending spree as it owes the people from its history of slavery.
‘The federal government must pay this debt, this is the entity that gave itself the right and the authority to enslave black Americans,’ she said.
Mullen also argued that the reparations are not only owed because of slavery, but also due to past history of racial segregation and voter suppression.
She said: ‘When we’re talking about segregation, we’re not only talking about keeping black people separate from white people – we’re also talking about nearly a century of white terror attacks on black communities.
‘These were focused on two things: suppressing the black vote, and also turning a blind eye to the destruction of black people’s property.
‘In some cases the federal government was party to those destructions.’
Darity and Mullen are co-authors of the book ‘From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century’
Kamilah Moore, the chair of California’s reparations panel, has said she plans to be as ‘radical as possible.’ She is pictured here with vice-chair Amos C Brown in September
In making their case for the government to splash out trillions to repay the descendants of slavery, the authors said the spending spree could be rolled out over 10 years in an attempt to avoid adding to rampant inflation.
Another option, argued Darity, is that the reparations could instead be handed out as assets rather than a direct cash handout.
Kamilah Moore has appeared to tweet support for a wealth tax, mansion tax or a property tax to pay billions of dollars to descendants of slaves
He said: ‘This could include giving them reparations in the form of an annuity, or a trust account, or some type of an endowment where there are limitations on the amount that could be spent at each moment.
‘The key thing is that ultimately the discretion for the use of the funds must reside with the recipient.’
Despite arguing that the government should hand out the titanic $14 trillion reparations, the Duke University professor added that finding the funding shouldn’t fall on the taxpayer.
‘You don’t necessarily have to raise taxes to undertake these massive expenditure projects,’ he said.
However, this point of view is not one shared by California’s reparations task force, who are proposing giving each black resident in the state $223,000.
The chair of the reparations panel, Kamilah V. Moore, tweeted over the weekend that the panel is considering introducing new taxes to foot the bill for the billions in reparations.
Her tweet came after the panel heard from experts in United States tax law, who testified that because white people are more likely to be wealthy any proposals to redistribute wealth would directly benefit the black population.
Moore has previously stated she plans to be as ‘radical as possible’ when it comes to her job.
At its hearing on Friday, the committee heard suggestions ranging from introducing new wealth taxes, incentivizing people to fund reparations via tax breaks, or giving all residents that fall below a median wealth line a tax credit.
The task force has grappled with ideas over how to pay the billions it would cost to go through with reparations payments.
California is one of the leading states in the US in pushing for reparations to its black residents. Morris Griffin, pictured, is one resident who supports the scheme
Many California residents have expressed support for potential reparations, with some arguing that the $223,000 proposal is ‘not enough’
California’s reparations task force was set up under Governor Gavin Newsom in 2020
The tax expert suggestions came before an activist fired back at the panel’s plans, as he felt that almost a quarter of a million dollars each was ‘not enough.’
Rev. Tony Pierce also slammed the idea that California’s reparations should be limited to residents of the state.
‘There should be no residency requirements for California! We have to encourage our people to come back to California! What better way to encourage our people to come back to California if we have no requirements?’ Pierce asked.
In a previous meeting, an attendee also argued that the amount was not high enough, as he called for payments of $350,000 per person.
Marcus Champion with the Civil Justice Association of California at the time called for the ‘direct cash payments, tax-exempt status, free college education, grants for homeownership, business grants, access to low to no business funding and capital.’
In 2022, the task force published a 500-page document outlining why African Americans that are descendants of 19th century slaves were owed ‘comprehensive reparations.’
While many in the Golden State have publicly supported the reparation plans, some have slammed the idea and urged more limitations about who would receive the lump-sum payments.
Josiah Williams, a member of American Redress Coalition of the California Bay Area, spoke at Friday’s meeting and called for targeting of the reparations.
He said: ‘I wanted to add that if there is anyone else who has their own claim, they can definitely write it up, get someone to champion it and I would support them in that effort. ‘But this is for a specific group of people.’
Fox news contributor and attorney Leo Terrell and former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder have also come out against the plans, as they branded the scheme ‘outrageous, unconstitutional and unlawful.’
In an interview on Fox News’ Hannity, the duo demanded details in how the massive payout would be funded, as they even slammed the proposals as ‘racist’.
‘Reparations is the extraction of money from people who were never slave owners to people who were never slaves,’ said Elder.
One issue facing the reparation payments and often pointed out by opponents is California’s history with slavery, as it was only admitted into the Union September 9, 1850 as a free state.
If the $223,000 payment were to be paid out to all 2.5 million black California residents, the estimated total financial impact would be around $569 billion.
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