Ta-Nehisi Coates, Danny Glover testify at Congressional hearing on slavery reparations

Lawmakers on Wednesday held the first congressional hearing in more than a decade on reparations, spotlighting the debate over whether the United States should consider compensation for the descendants of slaves in the United States.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, who became the sponsor of a measure to study reparations after the retirement of Rep. John Conyers, said black Americans “are the only group that can singularly claim to have been slaves under the auspices of the United States government.” She said Wednesday’s hearing “is not a symbolic action,” but about legitimate legislation that should be signed into law.

“I just simply ask: Why not and why not now?” she said to a packed hearing room.

The witnesses at the House Judiciary subcommittee include actor and activist Danny Glover, writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a Democratic presidential candidate.

#Ta-Nehisi Coates #DannyGlover #CoryBooker #SlaveryReparations #GlobalNews

[phatbackbeat]

I had family members who died during the Civil War fighting to “ free the Slaves “ in the South.., do their relatives get reparations ?!?

[Ruffiansea]

Unless I get slaves, I'm not paying for services non-rendered.

[GirthNorwitzki]

No one alive today was a slave.
No one alive today owned slaves.
No need to ask for something you didnt suffer for.

[buttermepancake]

No you're not effected by slavery if you weren't ever a slave.

[kevkus]

This guy has never been to a black neighborhood

[AblkmanPanAfricanPatriach]

Reparations for Black American descendants of slaves, my reasons for apposing the American government compensation of to Black Americans are; How do we identify who are the actual desendants of slave and how is the subject intercultural mixing addressed. One example culture mixing would be the current state of Native American Indians, amongst all the tribes of NA Indians across the United States, genetically (genetically validated) members of the Indian Nations are primarily found to live on a designated Indian Reservation. Considering the fact, most of the registered tribal members on roles live outside the reservations and have a stronger genetic tie with another cultural ancestry, primarily of European descent.
A second reason to appose reparations would be, the negative impact on all aspects of functioning government would be catastrophic across the board; socially, economically, culturally, building borders in places that previously didn’t exist or have long been mended. In the various cases when individual communities have received reparations from the American governmnet (Japanese American citizens placed in camps during WW2, and survivors of the Jewish holocaust), they are ethic communities who are known to culturally isolate themselves form others within our society. In the case of Black Americans, they are socially and culturally integrated into the white communities across America, truth is that Black and White Americans are more interrelated then are apart.
If any reparations are ever to be given the Black American slave descendants, it must be made clear that this debt is owed by existing Government agencies and Institutions, and not by the Indevidual White American citizen. For any debt owed by any White citizen has surly been paid from the many instances in American history of white people fighting, protesting and giving of their own lives in the cause of freeing slaves. It is a fact, that primarily by the efforts of majority of White America did Black American obtain freedom, did discriminatory laws get passed, and that current Constitutional rights of Black American are upheld. This conversation must remain a rational one, the majority of Black Americans are not living in poverty and are mostly law obiding tax paying citizens, the majority of White Americans feel as comfortable around Blacks as they do Whites within their own community and seek interaction out of sincere earnestness. Reparations at this point will be like “Throwing the baby out with the bath water”.

[thenrepeat]

Was just watching Milton Friedman discussing welfare globally and he said " Just look at the case of Chile". And I was like A WHOLE CASE ?! Sounds good but A BOWL IS PLENTY ! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[katrinaparham]

Stop it just stop it. This man is a millionaire. Talking about opportunity. We all have and always will have it. We had a black president for Pete sakes.

[BreatheMuzyckEnt]

A lot of misinformed people in these comments smh 🤦🏽‍♂️

[bradleyfeutz]

I'm not a racist, I'm a father in an inter-racial family. My better half agrees with my point. I'm only a 2nd generation American; my grandparents on both sides of my family immigrated from Europe back around WW1. Neither the Swiss nor the Irish were involved in our slave trade, and therefore, I'm not paying a dime for someone else's entitlement issues. If these victims want reparations, why aren't they also going after the west African nations of Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Cameroon? This is where most of the slaves were sold...

[hawgdawg]

Really? After all these years? My family and I had nothing to do with slavery? My grandparents and great grandparents had nothing to do with slavery? I sincerely doubt anyone in my blood line had anything to do with slavery? Let the blood line of those slave owners make reparations. If they are paid, which they shouldn't be, they should be paid on the backs of those who owned not this far down the line in their ancestry.

Come on, folks. This is ridiculous these many years later. Will you be seeking reparations from the tribes in African countries who sold your ancestors to slave traders? If not, you should, or your bigotry will glare even more brightly than it does now.

[vladdigby]

Egypt should pay repreations to Hebrews too! That is probably where this leads back to thinking about it?

[Gigilovehugs]

All these comments all talking about slavery 😢the issue is even after we were free we weren’t treated as free humans beings until after the civil rights movement which was just 50 years ago 😢
I’m 42 and my mother attended a segregated school so we are not far removed from Jim Crow

[salesadmieze]

Watch mister Burgess Owens on judiciary

[stevenyourke]

We should give money to millionaires like Coates and Glover?! Hell no!!

[Galimah]

where were danny glover when he made BIG BLOCK BUSTERS?

[salesadmieze]

Watch burgess Owen's on judiciary

[cyryc]

oh geez, Ta-Nehisi Coates? I think the only person they could have gotten who is more of a racist would have been if they got Gazi Kodzo

[becauseitscurrentyear]

Something given has no value. LBJs great society had negative effects. along with identity politics.
Maybe one day all people will be told they have value and not given a reason to expect failure.
If a society helped all people who were stuck at the bottom get unstuck you wouldn't have to focus on groups of people. That is simply the symptom of the problem that people are sensitive to. The people on that panel are examples of success.

[cicicure]

Mr. Glover, you sir, have had MORE opportunity and luxuries than I have had as a WHITE American female the last 50 years.. Your Ludacris lifestyle combined with your exuberant wealth is appalling considering that you are even present and these words are coming from your mouth... you should be ashame!