William Darity: Ending the racial wealth gap through reparations: Local policies or federal payments?

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones is one of a dozen U.S. mayors who are committing to reparations to address the racial wealth gap. Through Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity, they say cities could take a leading role in addressing the wealth gap by implementing local reparations programs. But local programs could lead to a diluted federal reparations plan that wouldn’t match the necessary investments needed to close the racial wealth gap if federal leaders already see localities implementing such initiatives, said William Darity Jr., a public policy professor at Duke University.

Darity, a leading proponent of reparations, said the nation needs to eliminate the $12 trillion wealth gap between Black and white Americans through direct payments. He doesn’t consider local initiatives reparations because cities don’t have the money to eliminate the racial wealth gap. “We estimate that this would be somewhere in the vicinity of $280,000 to $320,000 per eligible, Black American descendant of persons enslaved in the United States,” Darity said. “As soon as you make that payment, you've essentially erased the racial wealth gap.” Darity said the best course of action is through the federal government, though he’s aware overwhelming congressional support now is unlikely. President Joe Biden is having trouble getting his economic proposals through Congress, especially in the Senate, where Democrats hold only thin majority control. Learn more here.