Warren Doubles Down on Reparations: Native Americans Should Be 'Part of the Conversation'

Reparations for slavery have been in the news lately, as two major Democratic candidates for president, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, have said it’s time to compensate blacks for slavery and “Jim Crow.”

But in New Hampshire yesterday, Warren told a cheering crowd that Native Americans, too, should be “part of the conversation.” Presumably, all of us will be “part of the conversation,” so I guess she means Native Americans should be compensated too.

The Hill:

“I think it’s a part of the conversation,” she said when asked whether they should receive some kind of relief. “I think it’s an important part of the conversation,” she added, according to the Post.

Asked to explain her position on reparations, Warren offered few details but pointed to America’s “ugly history” of racism and pointed to her bill to address housing discrimination against black Americans, the paper reported.

“America has an ugly history of racism,” Warren told attendees, according to the paper. “We need to confront it head-on. And we need to talk about the right way to address it and make change.”

“I have a housing bill that talks about more recent forms of discrimination which we also need to address head-on,” she continued.

Warren is talking about her anti-redlining bill that would compensate black communities for past discrimination in loan applications by banks. There’s no doubt that banks discriminated against minorities in granting home loans, but the question is did they do it because they hate blacks or because people who live in poor communities are a greater risk for default?

Some studies show that greater default rates by minorities are a myth and plaintiffs have won several significant victories in recent years.

But reparations is an entirely different matter and the idea of including Native Americans in any reparations program would throw the door wide open to just about every ethnic group that has come to American and suffered discrimination.

Warren’s remarks came as she continues to navigate blowback from her previous claims to Native American heritage.

She apologized earlier this month for previously identifying as Native American.

Warren, who also apologized recently to the Cherokee Nation for taking a DNA test to show that she had Native American ancestry, said the apology was meant to include identifying herself as Native American while a professor at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Last year, Warren publicly revealed the results of a DNA test showing the existence of a distant Native American ancestor. The move sparked backlash from some Native American groups.

I guess all those “No Irish need apply” signs that kept my grandfather from rising in America can safely be forgotten.

Perhaps we should also consider including the extraterrestrials we’re holding in Area 51 as part of any reparations deal. They certainly didn’t come here willingly.

She has to know the idea is preposterous. If we are going to compensate Native Americans for past injustices, there is simply no end to the parade of the oppressed. Irish, Germans, Slavs, Italians — the list is endless. The United States has never been a very welcoming place for immigrants, which is remarkable because they kept coming anyway. And those who opposed their entry then were wrong, as are those who wish to cut off all immigration today.

Democrats are playing right into Trump’s hands. Medicare for all, free college, Green New Deal, and slavery reparations are not popular with anyone except the far-left radicals who appear to be on the ascendancy in the party. It will make for some amusing debates in the fall of 2020 when Trump faces off with a Democrat who may have to answer for his party’s radicalism.