When 46-year-old Geroge Floyd was murdered May 25 by former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, no one could have imagined the racial convulsions that swept the country, continuing street protests against police brutality, but, more importantly, “systemic racism” or “white privilege.” Floyd’s murder became a tipping point for the African American community fed up with what they call “systemic racism,” preventing blacks from pursuing the American Dream. Black Lives Matter emerged as the lead group representing black injustice, demanding across the country “de-funding the police,” a movement designed to reallocate resources from law enforcement to the African American community. Now 67-year-old African American Duke University professor of Public Policy and African American Studies William A. “Sandy” Darity Jr. calls for $10-12 trillion in reparations.
Darity echoes the demands of 74-year-old founder of Black Entertainment Television [BET] Robert L. Johnson calling more-or-less for about the same $13 trillion in reparations for descendents of slaves. Darity, who has a background in stratification economics, economics of black reparations, African diaspora and group post-traumatic stress disorder, makes his case with his co-author writer Kristen Mullen for slavery reparations to the liberal Roosevelt Institute. Darity thinks to level the playing field it requires the U.S. government to pay $800,000 per African American descendents of slaves, including Darity, who earns over a $100,000 salary. According to Darity’s plan, Robert Johnson, whose net work $11.4 million, would be equally eligible for reparations, as would any other black multimillionaires or billionaires like Oprah Winfrey, TIAA Cref CEO Robert Ferguson Jr. and many others.
Darity argues in his co-authored report to the Roosevelt Institute that “the U.S. government—the culpable party—must pay the debt,” insisting that $10-12 trillion or $800,000 per African American would level the economic playing field. What’s most ironic is that there are plenty of African Americans that under Constitutional or existing U.S. civil rights laws that have become wildly successful in what Black Lives Matters calls a “systemically racist” society. Authors like 53-year-old Robin D’Angelo have become more popular than Tony Robbins selling her book, “White Fragility,” the new anti-racist bible along with other anti-racist books like, “How to Become an Anti-Racist” by 38-year-old Ibram X. Kendi. Whatever D’Angelo or Kendi do to reverse racism in U.S. society, Darity thinks it’s not enough, requiring the U.S. government—and taxpayers—to pony up.
When you look at the business, entertainment, professional or sports worlds, there are plenty of highly successful black citizens that don’t need reparations proposed by Darity and others. “Ultimately, respect for black Americans as people and as citizens—and acknowledgment, redress, and closure for history and financial hardship they have endured—requires monetary compensation,” read the Darity’s report. Darity paints with a broad brush the African American community that he and many other successful black Americans are all in the same boat. When Darity claims that leveling the playing field “requires monetary compensation,” he forgets what the U.S. government already does for disadvantaged black citizens and other minorities, including preferential treatment for federal government employment. Darity, who considers himself an expert on the black diaspora, doesn’t want to hear about white poverty.
Darity refuses to acknowledge the vast amounts of white poverty in America, something Black Lives Matters ignores because they’re only concerned about the plight of African Americans. When white folks are gunned down by the police, they don’t typically rant about “systemic racism” or discrimination against poor white folks. African Americans have a long history of rioting when certain individuals are held out as symbols of police brutality, white supremacy or new terms like “white privilege” or “systemic racism.” Darity, who considers himself an expert on the black diaspora, knows that there’s no global movement for reparations in countries in Africa, where blacks faired far worse over the last 400 years than they have in the United States or other Western countries. Darity also ignores that slavery came to new world and U.S. colonies from the Britain, not something originating in America.
Opposition to reparations in the United States runs about five-to-one, something pushed by successful professors, entertainment or business people, not part of America’s “systemic racism,” allegedly preventing black people from realizing their success. Boiling down the “racism” problem to money doesn’t account for the high levels of poverty among white people who, for whatever reason, couldn’t take advantage of their “white privilege” or what Darity calls “systemic racism.” “In short, the reparations plan we put forward designates black American descendants of U.S. slavery as the target community,” Darity said, brushing aside undeniable levels of white poverty in America. “Eliminating the black-white (pre-tax) wealth differential should be a core objective of the redress component of a plan for reparations,” Darity said, ignoring anyone that disagrees with his analysis.
