The early 2020 Democratic primary has been occupied lately by a surprisingly polarizing question: Should the United States offer restitution to the descendants of slaves in the form of reparations? Already, several candidates — notably Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) — have said yes. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) isn’t so sure. “I think what we have got to do is pay attention to distressed communities: black communities, Latino communities, and white communities, and as president, I pledge to do that,” Sanders said when asked about the issue on ABC’s The View on Friday. The View’s Sunny Hostin went on to press him further and ask if he would back reparations, in the form of money, explicitly. “I think that right now, our job is to address the crises facing the American people and our communities, and I think there are better ways to do that than just writing out a check,” he said in response. This isn’t the first time Sanders has shied away from backing reparations. During a CNN town hall earlier this week, Sanders instead noted that he supports legislation from Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) that focuses federal resources on communities that have a high level of poverty. The full exchange is worth watching. Bernie Sanders on reparations on The View: "I think that right now our job is to address the crises facing the American people in our communities, and I think there are better ways to do that than just writing out a check." pic.twitter.com/FXso34iSbs — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 1, 2019 Several 2020 candidates support reparations, but it’s not immediately clear what that means For now, the definition of reparations in the 2020 context is murky. At the moment, reparations appear to be any policy a candidate is willing to call reparations. A recent New York Times story by Astead W. Herndon found Warren, Harris, and Booker backed “race-conscious policies” in some form. The Washington Post’s Jeff Stein followed this up by asking candidates directly if they supported “reparations.” Those three followed with yes, though it was unclear what the policy might actually look like. As the Associated Press’s Errin Haines Whack writes, reparations have been “long defined as some type of direct payment to former slaves and their descendants,” but clearly to candidates that definition has become more amorphous. Harris, for example, has told the news outlet the Grio that she sees the LIFT Act, a bill she proposed that would offer middle-class families a massive expansion of the earned income tax credit, as legislation that would “uplift 60 percent of black families in poverty.” “When you look at the reality of who will benefit from certain policies ... it will directly benefit black children, black families and black homeowners because the disparities are so significant,” she said. A Booker representative has suggested that his baby bonds proposal, which would guarantee all newborns savings accounts in an effort to limit the racial wealth gap, could be a “form of reparations.” Warren, too, has highlighted legislation “that would provide help to minorities in making a down payment on a home,” Reuters reports. Sanders indicated on Friday that he does not back a direct payment to descendants of slaves, but it’s increasingly unclear whether other 2020 candidates’ definition of “reparations” explicitly includes that either.<doc-sep>The Democratic Socialists of America have endorsed Bernie Sanders’s campaign for president, despite some consternation within the organization regarding his comments on reparations. The DSA announced its Sanders endorsement on Thursday evening after a meeting of its national political committee. The decision was widely anticipated, but there was a wrinkle: the group’s AfroSocialist and Socialists of Color Caucus, a section within the organization focused on race and people of color, had asked the 16-member committee to withhold its endorsement of Sanders over his stance on reparations. The independent Vermont senator has declined to back reparations for the descendants of slaves in the United States, arguing that broader anti-poverty programs will help address inequality and that it’s not clear what the term means. DSA’s members had previously voted 76 percent to 24 percent to endorse Sanders in a poll conducted by the organization’s leadership earlier this month. Democratic Socialists of America is proud to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for president! We’re building a mass movement to take on the billionaires and win a society that puts people over profit. Join us https://t.co/Gsy5Ij2G2K pic.twitter.com/66DHY9hqyk — DSA (@DemSocialists) March 22, 2019 The caucus laid out its reasoning in an open letter to the political committee and explained that while they believe Sanders has advanced in his stance on race, “there is still a disconnect in his approach to economic issues often failing to comprehend how race and class are intertwined. “Should the organization move forward with an endorsement of the Sanders campaign, despite his failure to adopt specific policy stances to address matters of persisting racial injustice and despite his unwillingness to champion reparations to specifically address the experience of the descendants of African slaves, it will risk alienating not just members of color within the organization, but people of color in the communities in which the DSA works,” the letter reads. “We ask that the DSA withholds endorsement of the Bernie Sanders campaign for the presidency until Sanders finally acknowledges the validity of black demands for reparations in America.” Democratic Socialists of America, which claims to be the largest socialist organization in the US and has gained significantly in prominence in recent years. (Jeff Stein laid out for Vox in 2017 what DSA is all about.) It has more than 50,000 members nationwide. The letter has caused some internal consternation within DSA, which has been criticized for being a heavily white and male organization. “There is a lot of really frustrated white comrades right now and comrades of color, to be quite honest, about how this is a stupid strategy, and what’s going on, but I think their hearts are in the right place,” Bianca Cunningham, co-chair of New York City’s DSA chapter, told me. “Sometimes, having these discussions is uncomfortable, and it means you even have to challenge comrades who you see as allies.” What Sanders has said about reparations Reparations has become a topic of conversation in the 2020 Democratic primary, and multiple candidates — including Sanders — have been asked to weigh in. It’s worth noting that reparations polls poorly among the general public, but is more popular with younger voters and voters of color — prime parts of the Democratic base. It has thus gained credence among those on the left as the Democratic Party becomes more aware of and responsive to issues like the racial wealth gap. Black voters make up about 25 percent of Democratic primary voters, a constituency Sanders struggled with somewhat in 2016 but one with which he has been gaining support more recently. At a CNN town hall event with journalist Wolf Blitzer in February, Sanders was asked about reparations. He said that there are “massive disparities that must be addressed” but did not come out in favor of reparations. Sanders pointed to legislation he likes, including Rep. Jim Clyburn’s (D-SC) 10/20/30 anti-poverty program, which he has endorsed. It calls for more federal resources to be sent to communities with high, sustained levels of poverty. Sanders said we have to do “everything that we can do end institutional racism in this country” and “put resources into distressed communities and improve lives for those people who have been hurt from the legacy of slavery.” But he wouldn’t come out in favor of reparations, and he said it’s not clear what the term even means. “But what does they mean? What do they mean?” he said. “I’m not sure that anyone’s very clear. What I’ve just said is that I think we must do everything that we can to address the massive level of disparity that exists in this country.” The DSA caucus calling for the organization to withhold its endorsement cited Sanders’s comments at the CNN town hall. They said he appeared “defensive” and “the dismissive nature of the response effectively shut down the opportunity for meaningful conversation on this issue.” Sanders was also asked about reparations in a subsequent appearance on the talk show The View and again declined to back them. “I think that right now, our job is to address the crises facing the American people and our communities, and I think there are better ways to do that than just writing out a check,” he said. That Sanders is not supportive of reparations is not a surprise — he did not support them in 2016 either, claiming they were “divisive” and nearly impossible to get through Congress. (President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton did not support reparations, either.) More broadly, Sanders has struggled with his messaging on race. In 2015, Black Lives Matter activists disrupted one of his speeches. A Sanders spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the DSA’s reparations debate. Reparations have become an important issue in the 2020 primary The issue of reparations has become a notable topic of conversation among 2020 Democrats. Vox’s P.R. Lockhart recently delved into the debate and what candidates have said about it. Sens.<doc-sep>Reparations are entering the 2020 presidential race, as several Democratic hopefuls have come out in support of them, the most recent being Bernie Sanders in an interview with NPR yesterday. However, he has not come out in support for reparations as ardently as Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who said, “I believe it’s time to start the national, full-blown conversation about reparations.” What exactly is entailed in their push for reparations remains fairly unclear, but only Sanders has said the he doesn’t think that “cutting a check” is the right way to go about it. (RELATED: The Key To Winning In 2020 Will Be Properly Explaining Socialism, Says Bernie Sanders) While Sanders hopes to use reparations to bridge the gap of opportunity in impoverished communities, Warren is supporting the bill that was originally put forward in 1989 by former Democratic Michigan Rep. John Conyers, which was reintroduced in January by Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas. This bill, known as HR-40, would establish “The Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans to examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies.” Other 2020 candidates are approaching this topic cautiously, like Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke from Texas, who have said they support taking big steps to further eliminate systematic racism, but have not openly endorsed reparations. Tune in to see what these reparations are all about.<doc-sep>U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), speaks before his twin brother Julian Castro, former U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary and San Antonio Mayor, (not pictured) announced his candidacy for president in 2020, at Plaza Guadalupe on January 12, 2019 in San Antonio, Texas. Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro isn't ruling out direct payments to African-Americans for the legacy of slavery — a stand separating him from his 2020 rivals. "If under the Constitution we compensate people because we take their property, why wouldn't you compensate people who actually were property," the former Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary said. Other candidates are discussing tax credits and other subsidies, rather than direct payments for the labor and legal oppression of slaves and their descendants. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed Democratic-socialist who's running for the Democratic nomination, would put resources into programs he believes would help distressed communities such as "Medicare-for-all" and tuition-free college. Castro told CNN's "State of the Union" he doesn't think that's the proper argument for reparations if "a big check needs to be written for a whole bunch of other stuff."<doc-sep>
(CNN) — Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro questioned Vermont independent Bernie Sanders’ skepticism for reparations, comparing the scope of monetary compensation for slavery to big-ticket social programs Sanders has called for. Castro, speaking Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper, said the US should address its “original sin of slavery” and pledged if elected president to “appoint a commission or task force to determine the best way to do that.” Sanders was asked about the issue during a CNN presidential town hall last month and said he supported tackling poverty, inequality and “institutional racism in this country.” But pressed on reparations specifically, Sanders said, “What do they mean, I’m not sure that anyone is very clear.” On Sunday, Castro contrasted his own openness to the possibility of paying reparations to the descendants of slaves to a recent ABC interview where Sanders said there were better ways to address the issue than “just writing out a check.” “To my mind that may or may not be the best way to address it,” Castro said. “However, it’s interesting to me that when it comes to Medicare for all, health care, you know, the response there has been we need to write a big check, that when it comes to tuition-free or debt-free college, the answer has been we need to write a big check.” Castro continued, “And so if the issue is compensating the descendants of slaves, I don’t think that the argument about writing a big check ought to be the argument that you make if you’re making an argument that a big check needs to be written for a whole bunch of other stuff.”