Black Lives Matter Calls for Reparations 

Even when the Left gets concessions, it’s never fully satisfied. Last year, groups like Black Lives Matter were rewarded with the establishment of Juneteenth as a federal holiday. 

However, this was not enough for the cultural radicals at BLM. 

On June 18, the Black Lives Matter Global Network called for reparations and demanded that American businesses pitch in to make these programs a reality. 

“This year, on the first anniversary of Juneteenth’s designation as a federal holiday, it is imperative that our economy, government, and society demonstrate a true commitment to Black emancipation. We want, deserve, and are owed reparations,” BLM Global Network declared. In a Medium post. 

BLM added that “corporations can and must pave the way for reparations in this country.”

“Today, we call upon the same companies who rapidly rallied behind the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020: Step into the fullness of your financial positioning and power. Act on your claims to value Black life via holistic reparations for Black communities and push for reparations,” BLM declared.

The leftist identity politics organization praised the establishment of Juneteenth as a federal holiday as a marginal victory. But it clearly wants more. 

“While we are not opposed to Juneteenth recognition, we ARE opposed to corporate America using Black pain, Black joy, Black victories, and Black history as an opportunity to expand their pockets without investing back into OUR communities. Stop exploiting our holiday,” BLM wrote.

BLM believes that reparations must be implemented due to the US’s history with slavery, but that’s only one reason why a reparations program is needed. 

“We demand that American corporations reckon with how they may have profited from slavery and take concrete steps that go beyond mere feel-good public relations efforts,” BLM observed. “American companies should announce their public support for reparations immediately. We know that many corporations have benefited from the legacy and continued oppression of Black people, and therefore they must do their part in making true reparations.”

“We demand reparations for African descended people in the United States and beyond. While we prioritize the demand for reparations for slavery, we do not limit our demand for reparations to slavery. We believe demanding reparations only for slavery erases the reality that the United States has continued to exploit and harm Black people through convict leasing, sharecropping, Jim Crow, redlining, and other policies of structural discrimination and exclusion, and mass criminalization and incarceration through policies such as the ‘war on drugs.’”

The rest of BLM’s pro-reparations rant can be read here. 

At this tense moment in America history, the last thing the country needs is a racially divisive reparations program.

Yes, the US has had slavery but so has every other civilization under the sun. And you don’t see other countries with checkered pasts paying reparations to historically oppressed minorities in their country. Nor should the US. 

To be sure, the US should have nuanced historical accounts about its encounter with slavery. However, this type of history should not be used to demonize the country’s founding nor be used as a way to blood libel and sully the people who built this country. 

By allowing radicals to attack the country’s founding stock, we open the door for punitive reparations and other redistributionist schemes. This type of action will undoubtedly destroy the country.