Amid international protests in support of racial equality and Black Lives Matter, BET founder, Robert Johnson, unveiled his $14 trillion dollar slavery reparations bill.
“Now is the time to go big” to keep America from dividing into two separate and unequal societies, Johnson said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” last Monday.
“Wealth transfer is what’s needed,” he argued. “Think about this. Since 200-plus-years or so of slavery, labor taken with no compensation, is a wealth transfer. Denial of access to education, which is a primary driver of accumulation of income and wealth, is a wealth transfer.”
Calling reparations the “affirmative action program of all time,” Johnson said the reparations would send the message that white Americans acknowledge “damages that are owed” for the unequal playing field created by slavery and the decades since with a “wealth transfer to white Americans away from African Americans.”
“Damages is a normal factor in a capitalist society for when you have been deprived for certain rights,” he said. “If this money goes into pockets like the [coronavirus] stimulus checks … that money is going to return back to the economy” in the form of consumption. He added how the reparations would lead to more black-owned businesses.
Johnson made sure to note that his bill is nothing new and that it has been on his website since last year.
“I’m not new to this challenge.”
He added that he’s not advocating “more bureaucratic programs that don’t deliver and don’t perform.”
“I’m talking about cash. We are a society based on wealth. That’s the foundation of capitalism.”
The 74-year-old media mogul and businessman made history as America’s first black billionaire after Johnson sold BET to Viacom back in 2001. Shortly after the sale, he went on to launch his investment firm The RLJ Cos.
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