Biden aide Cedric Richmond says WH set to act on reparations but dodges query on payments to slave descendants
White House Senior Advisor Cedric Richmond on Sunday, February 28, said the Joe Biden administration is set to start acting on reparations for African-Americans and that it was “doable” for President Biden to accomplish first-term progress on dismantling barriers for people of color even as the Congress studies reparations for slavery. Richmond’s remarks, which he made during an interview on ‘Axios on HBO’, backed President Biden’s stance on the campaign trail ahead of last year’s presidential election that he backs the idea of creating a commission to study and develop proposals for reparations -- direct payments for African Americans.
It was only recently that the White House threw its weight behind the study of reparations for Black Americans, giving a boost to Democratic lawmakers who are reviewing efforts to set up the commission on the issue at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has brought out in the open stark racial disparities. A House panel heard a testimony on a legislation (H.R. 40) that would set up the commission to study the history of slavery in the US and the discriminatory policies enacted by the government that affected former slaves and their descendants. The commission would also recommend ways to educate the American people of its findings and suggest appropriate remedies which include financial payments from the government to compensate descendants of slaves who gave unpaid labor for years.
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Richmond, a former House member from Louisiana and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said in the interview to journalist Mike Allen that he thought the creation of the commission will happen. “We have to start breaking down systemic racism and barriers that have held people of color back and especially African-Americans,” he said. “[W]e have to do stuff now to improve the plights, status and future empowerment of Black people all around the country.”
“And we don't want to have to wait on a study that we even support,' he said. 'We're going to start acting now,” the 47-year-old said. The senior advisor to the president also cited an executive order signed by Biden that breaks down “barriers in housing, making sure that African-Americans can pass down wealth through homeownership, that their homes are not valued less than homes in different communities just because of the neighborhood it’s in”.
Will actual payments be made to slaves' descendants?
When the interviewer asked Richmond if actual payments could be made to people who are descendants of slaves, he did not give a direct response. But while he said that he didn’t know about the legislation’s time frame, he added: “If you start talking about free college tuition to [historically Black colleges and universities] and you start talking about free community college in Title I and all of those things, I think that you are well on your way”.
Last month, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also spoke on the matter -- the same day the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties held a Zoom hearing on reparations. She said the president “would support a study of reparations” and pointed to the executive order the latter signed to aims to address racial inequality.
Psaki was less definitive when asked if Biden would sign H.R.40. She said: “Well, it’s working its way through Congress. He’d certainly support a study, but we'll see what happens through the legislative process.” She also didn’t respond clearly when asked why Biden wouldn’t use an executive order to create a commission to study reparations. “He has executive order authority. He would certainly support a study, and we'll see where Congress moves on that issue,” Psaki said.