Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren are taking a cue from a fellow Democratic presidential hopeful who called for $100 billion in reparations.
In late January, activist, author and presidential candidate Marianne Williamson called for a country-wide "moral and spiritual awakening" on the first day of Black History Month asking for "a debt to be paid" toward economic and educational projects for Black Americans.
Harris, who announced her candidacy presidency on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, said that "we have to be honest" when it comes to equity and "access to the same opportunities.
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"I’m serious about taking an approach that would change policies and structures and make real investments in Black communities," Harris said in a statement to The New York Times.
Harris' statement comes on the heels of her meeting with Rev. Al Sharpton at Harlem's Sylvia's Restaurant where the two reportedly discussed civil rights.
Warren also mirrored support, but her campaign declined to comment further to The New York Times.
According to a report published in Newsweek, reparations could cost anywhere between $5.9 trillion and $14.2 trillion when calculating hours worked among men, women and children from 1776 to 1865. The figure was determined by a calculation that included multiplying hours labored during this period to average wages at the time along with a compounding interest rate of 3 percent each year to adequately measure inflation.
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