Dem lawmakers demand TRILLIONS in reparations for black Americans

The coalition of Democrat lawmakers were led by Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA). She reintroduced the resolution that was first brought by former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) in 2023. “We’re here to say that there’s no more waiting, no more watering down, no more putting justice on layaway,” Lee said.

She went on to claim, “For over 400 years, this country has profited off the stolen labor, the stolen land and stolen lives of Black people and later added, “Black folks are owed more than thoughts and prayers. We’re owed repair, we’re owed restitution, and we’re owed justice."

“This is a moment in time where societies are shaped [and] new societies are built. We should be the ones who are shaping it," Lee added, as she took issue with President Donald Trump's efforts to root out DEI policies in the government with the "stroke of a pen."

“We need real, concrete action. We need policies that close the racial wealth gap, eliminate Black maternal health disparities, fund education, address environmental racism in our communities, and we need reparations. It is a moral obligation, the debt that this country owes,” she later added.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) also spoke Thursday, claiming that the US is in a state of "anti-blackness on steroids" and added that the “antidote to anti-Blackness is to be pro-Black, and we will do it unapologetically." She then added that the US government "owes us a debt, and we need reparations now," as she touted the resolution calling for black Americans to get $1 trillion, The Hill reported.

This comes after Sen. Corey Booker (D-NJ) and Reps Pressley, Hank Johnson (D-GA), and Lee all participated in a congressional briefing titled, "We Can’t Wait: Advancing Reparative Justice in Our Lifetime," earlier this week. The “Reparations Now Resolution” from Lee was discussed during the briefing as well as Pressley and Booker's "Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act."