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California Reparations Task Force meets to hear public input on reparations at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 2022.

Source: Carolyn Cole / Getty

A Republican running for senator in Ohio believes descendants of white soldiers who died in the Civil War should receive reparations. Bernie Moreno announced last week he was running for U.S. Senate in the state of Ohio. During his announcement speech, he brought up the reparations movement taking place in America, but instead of supporting or even condemning the moment he suggested the descendants of Union soldiers who died in the Civil War are the ones who deserve to be compensated. 

“They talk about reparations. Where are the reparations for the people in the North who died to save the lives of Black people?” Moreno said speaking to a small group of supporters at his U.S. Senate campaign announcement. “I know it’s not politically correct to say that, but you know what, we’ve got to stop being politically correct.”

He continued, “That same group of people later, white people, died to free Black people.” “It’s never happened in human history before, but it happened here in America. That’s not talked about in schools very much, is it? They make it sound like America is a racist, broken country. You name a country that did that, that freed slaves, died to do that.”

Moreno seems to be taking a page out of the “All Lives Matter” playbook with his narcissistic, “but what about us” take on reparations. Firstly, soldiers who fought in the Civil War were paid for their services, unless they were Black and fighting for the South, because yes…they were slaves. According to Business Insider, white Union privates were paid $13 a month, while their Black counterparts made $7 a month. History proves they were already paid for their participation in the war. Claiming Union soldiers deserve reparations for the Civil War is just another means of distracting people from the real conversation around reparations and why Black descendants of slaves deserve them. 

The reparations movement in America has picked up steam over the past few years.

Currently, California is pushing the topic into the spotlight with its state-backed reparations task force committee.

The task force will release its comprehensive set of recommendations for what reparations will look like for descendants of slaves in California July 1.

Economists in California meet with the Reparations task force last month and estimated it will cost more than $800 billion to compensate the descendants of Black enslaved people in the state.

Also proposed, but not included in the $800 billion, was a recommended $1 million per older Black resident for health disparities. These figures were proposed by a handful of economists and policy experts tasked to report possible figures to the reparations task force.

SEE ALSO:

40 Acres And A Mule: What Are Reparations And Why Is The Concept So Polarizing?

Could Reparations Become A Reality In The United States?

White People Deserve Reparations For Fighting Civil War, GOP Candidate Says  was originally published on newsone.com

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