*As folks continue waiting for some form of reparations to be made official, Jasmine Crockett, a congresswoman in Texas may have a way for Black Americans and the country as a whole to come out winners overall on the divisive issue: tax breaks.
During a recent episode of the Black Lawyers Podcast, the Democratic Representative suggested that one-way reparations could be paid to descendants of slaves via a reprieve from paying taxes for a certain amount of time
The tax withheld strategy was among a variety of ways the congresswoman came up with to pay reparations to living relatives of enslaved people. Although her ideas were helpful, Newsweek reports Crockett, a former civil rights and criminal attorney, saw “a celebrity” that voiced the belief that Black people should not have to pay taxes for an undetermined amount of time instead of being given money by a state or the federal government.
“One of the things they propose is Black folk not have to pay taxes for a certain amount of time because…that puts money back in your pocket,” Crocket said about her alliance with the celebrity, whom Newsweek was unable to name. “If you do the no-tax thing for people that are already, say, struggling and aren’t really paying taxes in the first place, it doesn’t really matter.”
Prior to the new proposal, Crockett stated she believed that reparations should only go to people who are descendants of slaves, not other black Americans. An effort like this would have to have a solid plan to make it a success.
“This is something that definitely needs to be thought through, but when have people that aren’t even willing to do the studies, aren’t willing to invest to make sure that we can roll this out the right way,” Crockett said.
“Everybody hypothesizes about what reparations will do on both sides and then there’s a breakdown. Because one side says it’s going to be the best thing since sliced bread, the other side says it’s going to be disastrous, instead of actually getting the data to show us these are the problematic parts, these are the not-so-problematic parts, and us actually crafting a thoughtful way forward.”
Since proposing her tax exemption idea, Crockett has become a magnet for conversation as footage from her interview invades social me via right-wing groups who have posted the clip.
Among the posters are End Wokeness, which received 1.8 million views on April 9 after featuring a shortened version of Crockett’s comments. Right-wing personality Paul A. Szypula weighed in on the issue on X, saying, “We pay Crockett almost $200k a year to be in Congress and spout this nonsense. Unbelievable.”
Despite their support for Crockett, other X’ers have been more reserved in their thoughts. Newsweek referenced remarks made by Shahid Raazaq, who urged leaders to “examine the root causes of why certain groups may not be paying taxes in the first place and work towards comprehensive solutions that promote economic equity and justice.”
So, what say you? Does the idea of living descendants of Black slaves being tax-exempt for an uncertain amount of time an effective way to handle the reparations issue or do leaders need to go back to the drawing board for a better solution? Scroll below to weigh in:
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB: NY Slavery Reparations Panel Members Put ‘Uncle Tim’ Label on Tim Scott – Blame ‘White Folks’ for Climate Change
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!