Ben Carson says slavery reparations are ‘un-American and racist’ for ‘excluding white families’
FORMER Housing Secretary Ben Carson weighed in on reparations that aim to help low-income families and called them “un-American.”
Carson thinks that reparations essentially meant to end poverty will lead to racism instead of achieving racial equity, he published in The Washington Post on Sunday.
He pointed out the House Judiciary Committee passing Rep Sheila Jackson Lee’s bill as an example. The bill looks into .
“Focus has moved from equality to equity, that is, instead of pursuing the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideal of judging people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, equity would reward and punish people because of the color of their skin,” he wrote.
Carson also cited an initiative in Oakland, California, to to BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color) as another example to back his argument.
In March, Oakland’s Mayor Libby Schaaf announced a program that would provide a monthly payment of $500 to low-income families to help bring them out of poverty.
The initiative was set to target only poor families of color with the reasoning that white households make around “three times” as much as black households per year, citing the Oakland Equity Index.
The 2016 presidential nominee said that the program “explicitly” rules out poor white families.
“Rather than equality of opportunity, equity would mandate equality of outcome, this goal is not only un-American - it is impossible to attain,” Carson said in his op-ed.
The reparation for slaves’ descendants that is being considered under the HS 40, , was approved by the House Judiciary Committee approved the bill last week.
Around 40million black Americans could receive some type of payment if the bill was signed into law.
“Proponents of equity see no problem with treating groups of people differently based solely on race, as long as it serves their agenda,” Carson wrote in his op-ed. “This is what we used to call racism, and those not blinded by identity politics still recognize it as such.”
He stressed that providing resources to a certain group based on race or gender will fuel “resentment among the disfavored group.”
Some of the ways to reduce disparities involve providing access to "decent" paying jobs, education, and solid family structure, Carson continued.
“Those alive today are not culpable for misconduct that took place long before they were born, and it would be unjust to hold them responsible for it. It would also be unjust to provide benefits to those who were not actual victims of that misconduct,” he added.
In March, the city of Evanston, Illinois, of $25,000 slavery reparations for black residents in the United States.
The city will now begin paying out $25,000 payments to black community members, as part of a $400,000 payment the council voted on Monday night.
In an 8-1 vote, members of the Evanston city council approved the funds to be doled out, reported.
The payments will be given to 16 community members to be put toward housing.
Most read in News
Reparation payments to be paid out are part of a $10million plan backed by the that is to be paid out over the next decade.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Evanston is the first US city to offer reparation money to black residents whose families suffered damage from discriminatory practices, including racist housing policies.
The $10million fund was raised from a three percent tax on the sale of recreational marijuana as it tries to address inequity in housing.