Ta-Nehisi Coates Clapped Back at Mitch McConnell for Saying ‘No One Alive’ Is Liable for Reparations. So We Came Up With a List

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties held a hearing about H.R. 40, a proposal from Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) that would authorize a national apology and study reparations for slavery and racial discrimination against black people in America.

Among those testifying before the subcommittee was writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, whose seminal essay, “The Case for Reparations” is considered by many to be the spark that made the reparations debate a national, mainstream issue. Coates framed his prepared remarks, in part, around a quote from Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who said of the hearing: “I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago for whom none of us living are responsible are a good idea.”

Read more at The Root.