(PatriotWise.com) — A descendant of slaves who is running for Congress called on President Biden to authorize reparations payments of more than $2 million to every black American. Gregg Marcel Dixon is running to replace Democratic Rep. James Clyburn in South Carolina. He said his great-grandmother, with whom he lived for decades, was raised by former slaves.
“We like to say slavery was a long time ago, but you are looking at a man who was raised in the same house with a woman who was raised by someone who was enslaved by America,” he said.
Dixon, a teacher by profession, said his family could be traced back to South Carolina since at least the mid-1700s. He referred to the President as “Slow Joe Crow Biden” and told him he must finish the job of “repairing the great inequities” of America. He proposes to pay around $2.8 million to every black American who can trace their ancestry back to slaves.
While acknowledging that providing a cash payment for that amount would be “insanity,” he proposed monthly payments from interest on cash bonds.
It is the second time Dixon has put himself forward as a candidate for the House of Representatives. In 2022, he received just 4.5% of the primary vote, compared to Clyburn’s 87.9%. Clyburn defeated Republican Duke Buckner by 61.5% to 38.5%.
The reparations debate heated up when California established a task force following the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020. The panel proposed that the Golden State pay upward of $1.2 million to every black resident. If accepted, the total amount could run to $800 billion. California’s annual budget is around $300 billion. Although the committee was established with the blessing of California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, he has been relatively silent on its proposals.
Newsom has avoided a direct response to the cash recommendations, saying he would intensify efforts to make California more equitable and inclusive, and he looks forward to working with the legislature to “advance systemic changes.”
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