Recently while speaking on the House floor, a Democratic Representative made a claim about reparations that has everyone scratching their heads, especially after looking at a specific piece of data that contradicts her entire argument.
The recent global pandemic may have been halted had reparations for slavery been enacted, according to Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX).
The Daily Wire reports, On Thursday, Jackson Lee spoke on the House floor to advocate for H.R. 40, which would establish a congressional commission to study reparations’ costs and impacts.
As Jackson Lee outlined, COVID infection rates among minority communities were initially higher than those among white Americans or the general population, citing a Harvard Medical School study that indicated that living conditions and work environments in the African American community were more conducive to the rapid spread of the virus.
In the early months of the pandemic, Jackson Lee’s data was correct – black Americans did experience higher infection, hospitalization, and death rates. However, more recent data show death rates ultimately evened across racial demographics.
By October, white Americans’ death rate had “eclipsed” that of other groups, per data evaluated by The Washington Post.
In recent times, there has been a renewed push for reparations for slavery, with some Democratic lawmakers arguing that it would help to close the racial wealth gap. However, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s bizarre claim that reparations would actually have prevented the COVID-19 pandemic is just pure lunacy as the data simply doesn’t support her claim. Moreover, reparations would be a massive undertaking that would cost billions of dollars, and it’s not clear where that money would come from. Given the current economic climate, it’s hard to justify spending taxpayer money on something like this when there are so many other pressing needs. Ultimately, reparations are a divisive issue that would do nothing to heal the divide in our country. Democrats should be focused on finding ways to unite Americans, not introducing legislation that will only further divide us.
