Cori Bush introduces $14 trillion reparations resolution in Congress

A group of legislators led by Representative Cori Bush, has introduced a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives in support of reparations. The resolution, which includes a US$14 trillion price tag, is the latest in growing efforts across the country to implement reparations programs for Black Americans as a way to redress the enduring legacy of slavery and racism in the United States.

Rep. Bush discussed the latest push in favor or reparations in a press conference last Wednesday. Joined by fellow member of Congress Jamaal Bowman, Barbara Lee and Rashida Tlaib, Bush discussed the resolution, which would support existing and future legislative efforts towards reparations at the federal, state and local levels. “Black people in our country cannot wait any longer for our government to begin addressing each and every one of the extraordinary bits of harm it has caused since its founding,” Bush told reporters. She added that these injustices against Black Americans persist “each and every day all across our communities all across this country.”

According to NPR, Bush’s new legislation calls for a total of $14 trillion in reparations to Black Americans. That price tag for the Reparations Now Resolution is consistent with an estimate by Duke economist William Darity, Jr. concerning the total amount needed to address the ongoing impact of slavery and its aftermath. The proposal by Bush is the boldest reparations proposal yet to emerge at the federal level. It is a complement to H.R. 40, the bill that has been proposed every year since 1989 in order to compel the federal government to study the idea of reparations for slavery and to propose potential methods of compensation. Though H.R. 40 has never received a formal vote by Congress, the bill and the general movement towards reparations have gained prominence over the past several years and saw significant interest during the period of racial reckoning in 2020.