Kamala Harris, Reparations, and Guaranteed Income

Even Harris’ first campaign for president, which lasted 11 months in 2019, far longer than her current term, has not received the attention it deserves. For example, on two controversial topics, reparations and what is known as a universal basic income, Harris took positions in her first campaign that were barely explored in her second.

“I believe there must be some form of reparation, and we can discuss what that is,” Harris said Source In February 2019, she promised the Rev. Al Sharpton that as president, she would sign legislation establishing a commission to study reparations. She became a co-sponsor of such a bill in the Senate. Harris was unclear about whether it was financial reparations or, if so, how much, but she left no doubt that she supported some kind of reparations to “correct course” for black people.

“Look – we are dealing with over 200 years of slavery” Harris said Source“We’re looking at almost 100 years of Jim Crow. We’re looking at legalized segregation and, in fact, segregation on so many levels that exist today based on race. And there was no intervention, no understanding of the harm and the destruction that was done, to correct course.” When the host asked, “As president, would you be willing to lead a conversation about what reparations would look like for black people?” Harris responded, “Yes, including things like what we should be doing to take undiagnosed and untreated trauma very seriously. Take that very seriously. And what resources are we going to put into that — what resources are we going to put into communities to help people heal and be equal.” In short, Harris supported “serious intervention,” whatever that might be.

Now that Harris is running for president, After a secretive group of Democratic power brokers removed President Joe Biden from the race, there hasn’t been much talk of reparations. Zero, really, at least not from Harris herself. (At the time of this newsletter, Washington Post published an article on the subject: “Advocates Hope Harris Will Boost Support for Reparations for Black Americans.”) For Harris, questions about reparations would be similar to questions about taxes, health care, energy and other issues on which she appears to have changed her stance since 2019: Do you still believe what you said then?

There is a related problem that also hasn’t gotten much attention, and that’s Harris’s stance on the idea of ​​a guaranteed income. A few weeks before she announced her presidential campaign in January 2019, Harris introduced a bill she called the “LIFT the Middle Class Act” (“LIFT” stood for “Livable Incomes for Families Today”). The LIFT Act would send a monthly payment of up to $500 to married couples who work and have incomes above $6,000 a year and below $100,000. The money would be in addition to any other government transfer payments they might receive.

A website dedicated to liberal politics Voice was delighted. Harris LIFT Act, Voice he said, was “probably the closest thing any 2020 candidate has proposed to a universal basic income, an idea that is exactly what it sounds like: a guaranteed cash benefit for every American. Harris’ office says a total of 80 million Americans would benefit in some way. That’s not everyone, as in a true UBI, but it’s a big step.”

During his campaign, Harris linked the LIFT Act to reparations, as if LIFT were a form of reparations without actually being reparations. “We had over 200 years of slavery. We had Jim Crow for almost a century,” she said GrioBlack news and opinion site. “We’ve legalized discrimination and segregation, and now we have segregation and discrimination that are not legal, but they still exist and they are a barrier to progress. We have housing disparities, we have education disparities, we have income disparities. And we have to recognize that not everybody started out on an equal footing in this country, and black people in particular didn’t start out on an equal footing. And we have to recognize that and do something about it and give people support, and that’s why, for example, I propose the LIFT Act.”

The host asked why Harris didn’t do it make the bill specifically aimed at African Americans. Harris seemed irritated and responded that the bill was specifically designed to focus on issues that would directly benefit the most “black children, black families, black homeowners.”

Looking through a number of interviews Harris has given on the LIFT Act during the 2019 campaign, hosts who favored reparations were often a bit frustrated by Harris’ portrayal of the LIFT Act as something that played off the reparations bill but wasn’t specifically a reparations bill. When Harris appeared on Breakfast Club to introduce the legislation, the host listened as she made her case about 200 years of slavery and 100 years of Jim Crow and the ongoing racism in America. At the end, the host said, “So you’re in favor of some kind of reparations?” Harris replied, “Yes, I am. Yes, I am.”