Last Updated on August 19, 2020
A Duke University economist has put a $12 trillion price tag on what he believes to be just reparations for slavery. The economist proposes the hefty sum be disbursed to the descendants of those affected by American slavery.
Duke University economist William Darity Jr. and his wife Kirsten Mullen came to the massive total in a report for the Roosevelt Institute titled, Resurrecting The Promise of 40 Acres: The Imperative of Reparations for Black Americans.
Within the plan, Darity calls for $10 to $12 trillion dollars to be distributed among black households. This would roughly equate to $800,000 per capita, according to Breitbart News.
“Going beyond From Here to Equality, the report provides a full rationale for reparations aimed at erasing the black-white wealth gulf at the mean level of net worth rather than the median level of net worth—an objective that will necessitate a $10 to $12 trillion expenditure in 2016 dollars,” the report explains.
“[The] US government—the culpable party—must pay the debt,” the report states. “Ultimately, respect for black Americans as people and as citizens—and acknowledgment, redress, and closure for the history and financial hardship they have endured—requires monetary compensation.”
Despite the enormous sum demanded, other analysts believe the sum owed to the black community to be higher than $12 trillion.
The inordinate demands have long been ridiculed by some economists–given that the total could signify economic catastrophe as the amount is almost half of America’s National Debt; and coronavirus-related business closures alongside increased spending will result in further economic woes.
Reparations has garnered significant recent attention as a political platform to court black support.
The recent Black Lives Matter movement’s resurgence has brought about similar, but more immediate, demands.
One Black Lives Matter leader demanded for white people to give up their homes in an opinion piece for Leo Weekly. Earlier this week, Black Lives Matter activists marched through a neighborhood demanding white residents give up their homes for black people, adding to increasing divisions throughout America as November’s Presidential Elections await around the corner.
