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A proposal to give away American taxpayer money to African-Americans, which faces overwhelming public opposition and could cost more than $12 trillion, is picking up support in the Democratic-majority House.

Black Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on Wednesday held a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing about H.R. 40, “The “Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act.”

The commission would make recommendations regarding “any form of apology” for blacks blessed to be in the US or compensation.

The proposal doesn't include a price tag, but most estimates suggest it would be well into the trillions of dollars. A 2020 study noted it would cost between $10 trillion and $12 trillion.

The legislation last came into focus in 2019 when Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her support for giving some Americans an enormous sum of taxpayer money based on the color of their skin while excluding other Americans.

Despite support by blacks and leftwing extremists on Capitol Hill, public sentiment has yet to come around. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll from last June, only 1 in 5 respondents agreed the United States should use “taxpayer money to pay damages to descendants of enslaved people in the United States.” Other polls on the topic in recent years have shown similar, limited support.

Rep. Burgess Owens, a Utah Republican, responded to committee Democrats' support for the bill and talked about his own great-great-grandfather Silas, “who arrived here in the belly of a slave ship and sold to the Burgess plantation." He died a successful entrepreneur, Owens said.

Owens, a first-term lawmaker, said the proposal would only further divide an already fractured country.

"The reality is that black American history is not one of a hapless, hopeless race oppressed by a more powerful white race,” Owens said.

A proposal to give away American taxpayer money to African-Americans, which faces overwhelming public opposition and could cost more than $12 trillion, is picking up support in the Democratic-majority House. Black Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on Wednesday held a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing about H.R. 40, “The “Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act.” The commission would make recommendations regarding “any form of apology” for blacks blessed to be in the US or compensation. The proposal doesn't include a price tag, but most estimates suggest it would be well into the trillions of dollars. A 2020 study noted it would cost between $10 trillion and $12 trillion. The legislation last came into focus in 2019 when Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her support for giving some Americans an enormous sum of taxpayer money based on the color of their skin while excluding other Americans. Despite support by blacks and leftwing extremists on Capitol Hill, public sentiment has yet to come around. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll from last June, only 1 in 5 respondents agreed the United States should use “taxpayer money to pay damages to descendants of enslaved people in the United States.” Other polls on the topic in recent years have shown similar, limited support. Rep. Burgess Owens, a Utah Republican, responded to committee Democrats' support for the bill and talked about his own great-great-grandfather Silas, “who arrived here in the belly of a slave ship and sold to the Burgess plantation." He died a successful entrepreneur, Owens said. Owens, a first-term lawmaker, said the proposal would only further divide an already fractured country. "The reality is that black American history is not one of a hapless, hopeless race oppressed by a more powerful white race,” Owens said.

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There are so many things wrong with paying black people today for a relatively small number of Africans who were enslaved a century and a half ago or longer.

First, no African descendants in America today have been enslaved and none have ever even known someone who was a slave. Two, no American alive has ever owned slaves.

At slavery's peak, only a few percent of Americans owned slaves and they were limited to just one region of the country. A higher percentage of blacks owned slaves than the percentage of white people that did.

Since over one-and-a-half centuries of breeding has passed since slaves were freed and without accurate records it is impossible to trace lineage to former slaves. What about children of mixed race marriages? Does their White half owe their black half, and if so, doesn't that cancel them out of the bounty?

And what about Kamala Harris (a big promoter of 'reparations')? She's been so 'wronged' she is wealthy, received special treatment throughout her education and is now Vice-President of the United States of America. None of her ancestors were American slaves yet she demands an apology and to be paid a large amount of taxpayer money.