Rep. Bowman Backs $333K Reparations Bill for Black Americans

by Stacy Jackson January 24, 2024 The legislation aims to distribute $14 trillion dollars amongst the approximately 42 million Black Americans. New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman is backing a federal bill that would provide every Black American with a one-time payment of $333,000 as restitution for slavery. Bowman is one of nine co-sponsors of House Resolution 414, which declares the U.S. government has a “moral and legal obligation” to make amends to the descendants of enslaved people, Daily Mail reported. The legislation aims to distribute $14 trillion amongst the approximately 42 million Black Americans. This number comes from estimates of how much academics think the U.S. monetarily benefited from the free forced labor provided by slaves between 1619 and 1865, the news outlet explained. Bowman suggested the reparations could be paid out over time in creative ways, such as through monthly checks distributed over several years. Bowman argued that the government’s pandemic response proves it can afford such a program. According to Daily Mail, he told the Journal News, “When COVID was destroying us, we invested in the American people in a way that kept the economy afloat. The government can invest the same way in reparations without raising taxes...