Thread by @MeetMckayla

1/7 Reparations have been taboo in mainstream politics for so long that I think many people genuinely don't understand why they're needed.

So, to those asking in good faith, I want to break down why reparations for descendants of slaves are a moral obligation.

2/7 The institution of slavery in the United States evolved after the Civil War, taking on new manifestations of white supremacy.

In the Jim Crow era, the economic and social oppression of Black people was legally institutionalized.

3/7 One example:

In the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, Black Wall Street was destroyed. Hundreds of people were killed. Over $32 million in property was destroyed.

As a group, Black people were not allowed to accumulate wealth.

We were not allowed to be successful.

4/7 "But didn't the Civil Rights Movement solve these problems?"

Yes and no. Explicitly racist laws were removed.

But the systems endured. The heyday of redlining – which denied Black people the ability to build any kind of wealth by owning a home – was in the 1980s.

5/7 Mass incarceration was set up in the 1970s and exploded in the 1990s. Millions of people, disproportionately Black, were imprisoned.

Even after release, their rights were stripped away.

The right to vote.
The right to work.
The right to be treated equally.

6/7 For essentially all of American history, descendants of slaves – as a group – have been systematically denied access to wealth.

According to the NYT, for every $100 in white family wealth, Black families have 5 dollars and 4 cents.

7/7 And so yes, I know most Americans don't support reparations. But that will never change if we don't talk about these historical realities!

Let's pass H.R. 40.
And then let's actually follow through.
This is, quite frankly, long overdue.