Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: Charles Blow: Joe Biden Is Problematic [View all]still_one
(92,061 posts)"
I fear that reparations would be an excuse for some to say weve paid our debt and to avoid the much harder work of enforcing our anti-discrimination laws in employment and housing; the much harder work of making sure that our schools are not separate and unequal; the much harder work of providing job training programs and rehabilitating young men coming out of prison every year; and the much harder work of lifting 37 million Americans of all races out of poverty.
These challenges will not go away with reparations. So while I applaud and agree with the underlying sentiment of recognizing the continued legacy of slavery, I would prefer to focus on the issues that will directly address these problems and building a consensus to do just that.
Obama as a candidate rejected reparations by arguing the political will did not exist to provide them, and that he favored pursuing more practical policy goals. He said in August 2008 on CNN:
"I have said in the past and Ill repeat again that the best reparations we can provide are good schools in the inner city and jobs for people who are unemployed.
And, you know, I think that strategies that invest in lifting people out of the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow, but that have broad applicability and allow us to build coalitions to actually get these things done, that, I think, is the best strategy.
You know, the fact is, is that dealing with some of the some of the legacy of discrimination is going to cost billions of dollars. And were not going to be able to have that kind of resource allocation unless all Americans feel that they are invested in making this stuff happen.
And so, you know, Im much more interested in talking about, how do we get every child to learn? How doSiS we get every person health care? How do we make sure that everybody has a job? How do we make sure that every senior citizen can retire with dignity and respect?
And if we have a program, for example, of universal health care, that will disproportionately affect people of color, because theyre disproportionately uninsured. If weve got an agenda that says every child in America should get should be able to go to college, regardless of income, that will disproportionately affect people of color, because its oftentimes our children who cant afford to go to college."
Until President Obama weighs in differently, I assume that is still his position
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden