Fox Business Host Charles Payne predicts that we may see not only an apology from the White House, but also massive sums of money doled out in reparations for slavery.
Payne finds foreshadowing in Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's announcement of reparations to people who can prove that they were victimized by former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge, who tortured over 200 suspects through the 70s and 80s to force confessions. A total of $5.5 million will be split between victims, who Payne says were mostly black.
But, Payne doesn’t stop there. He foresees that this may carve the path toward an Obama-driven federal reparation package for slavery-reparation payments.
“There’s going to be a major push to get cash, and I’m talking LOTS of cash.”
He cites a special field order from Union General William Tecumseh Sherman in which he confiscated 400,000 acres of land along the Atlantic coast for division into into 40 acre lots to house the tens of thousands of freed slave refugees who had joined his march. Sherman’s intentions are disputed, though many believe it was meant to be only a temporary fix for an immediate problem.
According to Payne, that order will be seen as an unfulfilled promise by the federal government, and that it could very well be a driving force behind the push for the reparations. Not only that, but the fact that there have been very similar cases of America laid down a lot of money to right wrongs to large groups of people.
Payne and his colleagues all agree that such an act would not only be a mistake, but would also drive a deeper wedge in race relations. Instead of focusing on the wrongs of the past, all people should recognize the progress that’s been made and focus on moving ever forward, they suggested.