Dem Rep Summer Lee claims black voters will stop voting if reparations aren't paid

In a June 7 episode of Native Land Pod, Democratic Pennsylvania representative, Summer Lee, said that once black Americans felt like they would not receive reparations, they would stop voting.

Podcast co-host Angela Rye asked Lee her thoughts on the White House’s $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” proposal in contrast with the lack of support Lee’s House resolution on reparations has only received 13 democrats cosigning it.

“This is psychological warfare,” Lee said. “We have to understand these guys, they are playing psychological warfare with us. They are hellbent on beating us down to our face and telling us, and telling us, we are the ones who are crazy.”

“I have not even tried to engage with that idea of them trying to give some insurrectionists some dollars,” she said.

“They are trying to disenfranchise you,” the Democrat continued. “If you believe that you're never gonna get reparations from the system, then you tap out. And you don't just tap out of the conversation, you tap out of the system. You don't wanna vote anymore.”

Lee continued to say that reparations were owed to black Americans and said that she is “shocked” that more Democrats did not cosign the initiative.

The push for reparations in Congress has persisted for decades despite repeated legislative failures. The modern effort began in 1989 when Michigan representative John Conyers Jr. introduced H.R. 40, a bill to study reparations for descendants of enslaved Americans.

Advocates argue reparations are necessary to address historical injustices which they say have led to racial wealth disparities. Critics counter that modern taxpayers should not be forced to pay for actions committed generations ago and warn that the initiative could prove quite costly.