Democrats and Reparations

After watching some of the highlights from the most recent Democratic presidential debates, one name stands above the rest when it comes to the discussion around reparations for descendants of enslaved Africans, Marianne Williamson.

Unlike other candidates who equivocate and stutter when asked directly about reparations, Ms. Williamson states very clearly that a debt is owed and she puts the price tag of that debt in the trillions, while recognizing that $200-$500 billion is more politically feasible.  And the Black crowd goes wild.  This is what we've all been waiting to hear, and I personally am here for it. 

My book (available HERE and on Amazon), has a strategic plan on how we can mobilize the capital from those reparations checks, so we don't just waste it all in less than one generation.  That money is for all generations that come after us, so we must be responsible stewards of it.

However, back to Ms. Williamsons' plan.  It sounds good, but let's actually look at the numbers.  $500 billion amounts to about $11,000 for every Black person in America.  Now some of those people's families weren't here during slavery or Jim Crow, so technically they shouldn't get the same amount as those of us who come from a long line of American Negroes, but let's just be generous and keep the math simple. 

If we write every Black person a check for $11,000, it will do very little to solve the real problems in our communities.  

Plus $11,000 really isn't that much in the grand scheme of things.  But guess which candidate wants to give us more than that?  Andrew Yang.  If you haven't heard of him, please use your google machine and the interwebs....you're slippin'.

Andrew Yang wants to give every American citizen $1,000 a month....forever.  He calls it the Freedom Dividend, and it is not a novel concept.  Many countries already do something like this, and even the state of Alaska has a program to give every Alaskan $1,000 to $2,000 a year.

This concept is called Universal Basic Income, and it makes perfect sense.  Only ignorance, greed, and corruption can explain why is hasn't happened already.  It's not a matter of having enough money.  There's plenty of money to make it happen.

So Yang's plan will get us the $11,000 from Williamson's plan in 11 months, and then keep on giving.  Now, ideally, we would get the Freedom Dividend plus the $500 billion reparations check, and Yang/Williamson will be on a ticket together against Donald Trump in 2020.  But if fairy tales don't come true and we have to pick just one, I'm going with #YangGang all day.

What about Elizabeth Warren's plan to wipe out student loan debt?  Well, African Americans with student loan debt have an average loan balance of $34,000.  That's a lot more than the $11,000 reparations check will cover, and it only affects a select group of Black people, not all of us.  But guess what will cover that entire debt?  34 months of Freedom Dividends from President Andrew Yang.

In summary, Black people need to get behind the concept of Universal Basic Income and refuse to vote for any candidate who does not support it. 

The numbers don't lie.