Former President Barack Obama blamed “the white resistance and resentment policy” as the reason he did not press financial reparations for black Americans during his presidency.
On Monday, Obama and rock and roll legend Bruce Springsteen released the second episode of his new podcast, “Renegades: Born in the USA”, where they talked about race relations in the United States.
At the end of the episode, the two hosts talked about reparations to black Americans and whether the political controversy would materialize or not.
Obama said he believed the reparations were “justified” and that “there is little doubt that wealth … the power of this country was built in a significant part – not exclusively, perhaps not even the majority, but a large part of it – was built on the backs of slaves. “
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The former president claimed that a proposal for redress was not passed in the legislative process during his presidency due to the “white resistance and resentment policy”.
“And what I saw during my presidency was the white resistance and resentment policy. The conversation about ‘queens of well-being’ and the conversation about the ‘unworthy’ poor. And the reaction against affirmative action, ”said Obama.
“All of this made the prospect of actually proposing any kind of coherent and meaningful repair program to me seemed, politically, not just an obstacle, but potentially counterproductive.”
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Obama went on to say that it was “perfectly understandable why working-class whites, middle-class whites, those who are having trouble paying bills or handling student loans would not be thrilled” at the prospect of “a massive program that was designed to deal with the past, but it is not talking about the future. “
Obama appears to have changed his position on reparations over the years. He opposed reparations during his 2008 presidential campaign, arguing that “the best repairs we can offer are good schools in the city center and jobs for people who are unemployed.”
Reparations bills have been presented to Congress for more than three decades, with the most recent being a proposal from Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.
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Jackson Lee presented HR 40 to the House of Representatives, which aims to create the Committee for the Study and Development of Reparations Proposals for African Americans. According to the bill’s summary, the committee “will examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies.”
President Biden did not endorse the final reparations, but expressed support for the formation of a commission to study the matter. White House press secretary Jen Psaki reaffirmed that position to reporters last week.