Reparations stokes racial resentment — and Kamala has backed it to the hilt

The New York City Council voted Thursday to launch a reparations task force, which could lead to calls for billions ofღ dollars i𒅌n taxpayer-funded payouts to compensate for the impact of slavery and past injustices.  

Gotham joins dozens of municipalities, from Tulsa, Okla., 💞to Evanston, Ill., as well as three states — California, Illinois and most recently New York — in considering race♊-based reparations.

The Democratic Party is .

At one time, so did Kamala Harris.

As a candidate in the Democr🐎atic primary for president in 2019, “some form of reparations,”  to study race-based reparations  the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network that, , she would sign a reparations study bill into law.

That was then. 

Now Harris’ campaign where she stands.

Doesn’t she want us to be “unburdened by what has been”?

Americans agree that slavery and Jim Crow were a𝓀bhorrent💫 parts of our nation’s past.

But thi﷽s steamroller movement for race-based reparations locally, statewide and nationally is bad news.

Instead of healing racial tensions, it threatens to raise false expectations of big pꦐayouts and provoke r🤪esentments.  

Repar👍ations for actual victims is the prope🍒r way to compensate historic wrongs.

President Ronald Reagan established $20,000 payments for the Japanese Americans who were inca﷽rcerated by our government during World War II — but only for those imprisoned, not their descendants.

Similarly, the German government still pays reparations to Holocaust survivors, but no𝓀t to their descendants.

In contrast, US race reparations discussions always envision forci𝓀ng people who had no part in slave🌳ry to hand over money to people who were not themselves enslaved.

As New York City Councilman David Carr (R-SI), who voted against a reparations task force, explained, “No one currently living in our city had anything to do with the evils of sla♛very, and the vast majority of New Yorkers are descendants of immigrants who came after it was abolished.”

Reparations is divisive — and likely to cause real anger among thoseဣ forced to pay.

In America, we don’t punish people for the crimes of their ancesto💫rs.

that 80% of white Americans are opposed🦩 to the concept, while 𝓰77% of black Americans support it.

“I’ll move before I’ll pay,” said City Council Minority Leader Joseph Borelli (R-SI). 

Race reparations also violates the US Constitution’ಞs 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal treatment of citizens regardless of race.

Evanston $5 million to 203 black ♔residents, suppoꦕsedly to make up for historic housing discrimination. 

Anyone wꦓho is black and resided in Evanston betwe🅺en 1919 and 1969, or had ancestors who did, is eligible — without having to prove they were actually wronged.

Judicial Watch, a constitutional advocacy group, is suing on ജbehalf oওf six non-black Evanston residents. Tom Fitton, the group’s president,  “nothing more than a ploy to redistribute tax dollars to individuals based on race.”

That’s right.

The goal isn’t to compensate actual victims of slavery and prejudice.

It’s social engineering — equity on steroids.

Reparations advocates Linda Bilme and Cornell William Brooks of Harvard’s Kennedy School argue these payments a🦩re between whites and blacks. 

Tulsa reparations advocates to black residents because white Tulsans’ average household income is 75% higher.

Instead of a confiscatory repara🌸tions scheme, how aꦯbout a jobs program?

In New York, New School professor seemed to have the racial wealth gap in mind at the first meeting of♑ the state’s Community Commission on Reparations.

“The gross i♎nequities that exist today are not the result of inadequate people,” Ham𒅌ilton declared.

In other words, New Yor🧸kers, hold on to your wallets.

Closing the racial wealth gap🍨 by taking from some to give to others is not a legitimate role of government.

Moreover, there isn’🅷t enough money ꦺin state and local coffers.

San Francisco’s reparations task force proposed a whopping one-time $5 million payment to each black resident, expressly to erase wealth dispar🍬ities.

Mayor London Breed shut down the preposterous $223 billion effort.

Duke ecওonomist Wil🐻liam Darity argues that because states and cities can’t afford the $12 trillion he estimates it would take to close the racial wealth gap nationally, .

The Democratic Party platform, adopted Aug.16, calls on Congress to ena🍎ct a bill that would study federal reparations payouts.  

Would 🌳a President Kamala꧃ Harris sign a reparations bill into law?

We need to know.

Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York.