By Jean Patrick Grumberg | The Geller Report
Reparations has been moving toward the mainstream of the Democratic Party, thanks to my colleagues in the media who want to repair society (as my friend and best-seller author Tuvia Tenenbom put it: “I say to my colleagues, you don’t have to be a journalist to preach to people. You want to preach the people? Do what all the preachers do: get a job as a preacher. I mean, if this is what you like to do, why do you have to schlep? Have a little church, invite the people and collect money from them.)
With the other conservative people, I was against reparation. I was stupid, I was wrong. I want reparations for the harm that was done to the Black people. The perpetrators must pay!
- On April 16, 1862,
President Lincoln signed bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia; in Congress, 99% of Republicans vote yes, 83% of Democrats vote no. The Democrats didn’t want the slaves to be free. The Dems tried to block the bill and keep blacks chained up. - July 17, 1862,
Over unanimous Democrat opposition, Republican Congress passes Confiscation Act stating that slaves of the Confederacy “shall be forever free.” The Democrats, every one of them, voted against the freedom of slaves. - January 31, 1865,
13th Amendment banning slavery passed by the U.S. House with unanimous Republican support, intense Democrat opposition. Every Republican wanted the slaves freed and made equal, almost all the Democrats voted against. - April 8, 1865,
13th Amendment banning slavery passed by U.S. Senate with 100% Republican support, 63% Democrat opposition. - February 5, 1866,
U.S. Rep. Thaddeus Stevens (Republican-PA) introduces legislation, successfully opposed by Democrat President Andrew Johnson, to implement “40 acres and a mule” reparation by distributing land to former slaves. The famous “40 acres and a mule” program was proposed by the Republicans and taken away by the Democrats. - April 9, 1866,
Republican Congress overrides Democrat President Johnson’s veto; Civil Rights Act of 1866, conferring rights of citizenship on African-Americans, becomes law. Once again the Republicans coming to the aid of the blacks after the Democrat President vetoed giving black citizenship. The Democrats fought hard to keep the black man down… - May 10, 1866,
U.S. House passes the Republicans’ 14th Amendment guaranteeing due process and equal protection of the laws to all black citizens; One hundred percent of Democrats voted no. Not a single Democrat wanted to let blacks have rights as citizens of America. - June 8, 1866,
U.S. Senate passes Republicans’ 14th Amendment guaranteeing due process and equal protection of the law to all citizens. Ninety-four percent of Republicans vote yes and 100% of Democrats voted no. The Democrats wanted to go back to the days of slavery… - July 19, 1867,
Republican Congress overrides Democrat President Andrew Johnson’s veto of legislation protecting voting rights of African-Americans. The Democrats fought hard to not allow blacks to legally vote. - October 7, 1868,
Republicans denounce the Democratic Party’s national campaign theme: “This is a white man’s country: Let white men rule”… - And more recently, Republicans condemn the 14-hour filibuster against the 1964 Civil Rights Act by U.S. Senator and former Ku Klux Klansman Robert Byrd (Democrat-WV). The Democrats did everything in their power to deny blacks equal rights. If it wasn’t for the Republicans fighting for black rights, the Democrats would still have them using separate bathrooms or picking cotton…
So I say yes, all registered Democrats, all and each of them, should pay reparation to the Black people. They have done them too much harm.
I changed my mind, I'm in favor of reparations - Geller Report
