Watch: Rep. Cori Bush talks reparations

Cori Bush tirelessly collaborated with like-minded lawmakers, building alliances and coalitions to advance her mission of granting Black people reparations.

Rep. Cori Bush became the first Black representative of Missouri’s First Congressional District in 2021. She entered Congress with a fire in her heart, ready to challenge the status quo and push for transformative change. Bush has tirelessly collaborated with like-minded lawmakers, building alliances and coalitions to advance her mission of granting Black people reparations. TheGrio’s Panama Jackson and Bush discussed the task.

The following is a partial transcript of that conversation.

Rep. Cori Bush: [00:00:00] We think about a country that is equitable, a country that believes in equality. Why should there be a $14 trillion difference in wealth just simply based upon race? [00:00:15][15.1]

Panama Jackson: [00:00:18] A Missouri congresswoman is demanding reparations for black Americans, and she’s got the bill to back that thing up. Democrat Cori Bush recently introduced new legislation calling for $14 trillion in back pay for slavery and the racist practices that followed. She joins us live today. Representative Bush, thank you so much for joining us. Now, let’s get straight to it. Look, my calculator don’t even quite go as high as 14 trillion. But I appreciate that number. So how did you calculate this cost? And when am I going to get my check? [00:00:51][32.5]

Bush: [00:00:52] I know that’s right. So actually, that number was measured by scholars who have been doing this work for a decade. So we’re talking about Dr. Sandy Darity and Jason Hinkle and others. What they came up with is let’s start with the black-white wealth gap. That’s what that is. That’s just the wealth gap. And when we think about a country that is equitable, a country that believes in equality, why should there be a $14 trillion difference in wealth just simply based upon race? And so that is just the beginning. So what we’re saying in our resolution is we start there, you know, but it’s reparations that also includes ending voter suppression [00:01:48][55.9]

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