Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee, says she won’t discount the use of executive action to begin implementation of reparations for black Americans. Speaking with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) yesterday, Harris was asked whether she would use presidential authority or defer to Congress to create a commission to study proposals for financial restitution.
“I’m not discounting the importance of any executive action,” Harris said. “But ultimately, Congress, because if you’re going to talk about it in any substantial way, there will be hearings, there will be a level of public education and dialogue.”
The National Pulse reported earlier this year that Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) is floating reparations in the form of exempting black Americans from federal taxes for a set period. “One of the things they propose is black folk not have to pay taxes for a certain amount of time because then again that puts money back in your pocket,” the freshman Democrat said.
Crockett’s proposal received immediate pushback, with the lawmaker eventually acknowledging that black Americans reliant on government assistance already pay little to no federal income taxes, meaning an exemption would do little for them.
The Texas Democrat is not alone in her push for reparations, however. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY)—ousted in a primary earlier this year—has pushed for the government to print $14 trillion for black Americans and give prisoners and felons the vote as a form of “reparations” for slavery. Additionally, Democrats in New York established a commission to study how the state might implement slavery restitution in late 2023.
Harris, who is of Indian-Jamaican heritage, is herself the descendant of a notorious European slave owner.
WATCH: Kamala Harris says she would use executive action and ask Congress to ‘study reparations’ if elected President pic.twitter.com/vq8cFwbG7x
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 17, 2024