BET founder Robert Johnson argued Monday that “now is the time” for white America to acknowledge damages resulting from slavery, and for the U.S. Government to provide reparations in the sum of a $14 trillion wealth transfer to help prevent the country from splitting into separate and unequal societies.
Johnson told CNBC that “now is the time to go big,” and that the government should pay trillions of dollars for reparations to help reduce racial inequality.
Johnson called reparations the “affirmative action program of all time,” and added that they were so important because it would demonstrate that white Americans acknowledge “damages that are owed” for the injustices created by slavery.
Later Monday morning on CNBC, Merck Chairman and CEO Ken Frazier, who is black, said he was skeptical that a reparations bill would find requisite governmental support.
BET founder Robert Johnson calls for $14 trillion of reparations for slavery (CNBC)
Most Americans say the legacy of slavery still affects black people in the U.S. today (Pew)
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