Waukesha Times

The head of the League of American Workers (LAW) said that Vice President Kamala Harris wants to take money from white, Hispanic, or Asian people living in Wisconsin in order to provide reparations to black people.

“How radical is Kamala?” Steve Cortes, president and founder of LAW, told Waukesha Times. “Well, if you’re a white, Hispanic, or Asian person living in Waukesha County, for example, she is going to take your money and give it to black people.”

“Why?” said Cortes. “For things that happened before you were even born.

While running for U.S. President in 2019, then-U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said she supported reparations for black Americans.

"I think there has to be some form of reparations," said Harris in an interview with black online news site, The Root.

When the interviewer asked Harris if, as president, she "would be willing to lead a conversation on what reparations for Black people would look like," Harris replied, "yeah."

This was just one of numerous times Harris has backed reparations for black people.

“I’m serious about taking an approach that would change policies and structures and make real investments in black communities," she told the New York Times in February of 2019. 

During her time as a U.S. Sen. for California, Harris co-sponsored a bill with New Jersey Senator Cory Booker introduced in April 2019. This legislation aimed to create a commission to study impacts of slavery and "ongoing discrimination against African-Americans," as well as make "recommendations on reparation proposals for the descendants of slaves." 

A potential goal outlined in the bill was to create a "national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of slavery and its continuing racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans."

Harris also told the Des Moines Register in 2019 that reparations would not be as simple as "writing a check," and that research needed to be done in order to come up with solutions to address "the systemic issues that are present and will continue to exist."

The vast majority, 69%, of Wisconsin voters think it is a bad idea for "non-Black Wisconsin citizens to make payments to Black Wisconsin citizens based on discrimination in the past," according to the results of a December LAW poll. Only 19% of the state's voters said it is a "good idea."

Harris was elected Vice President in 2020 alongside President Joe Biden. She was recently slated as the new Democrat candidate for the upcoming presidential election when Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her in a July 21 post on X. Before being elected as Vice President, Harris served as the District Attorney of San Francisco, the Attorney General of California, and as a U.S. Senator from California. 

Cortes is a political advisor and commentator. He previously traded global currencies and interest rates for 25 years for large international hedge funds. He has been an on-air broadcaster for CNBC, Fox News, and CNN. Cortes founded LAW in 2022 to conduct research and develops proposals on public policies impacting American workers and the economy.

Founded in 2022 by political strategist and commentator Steve Cortes, LAW conducts research and develops proposals on public policies impacting American workers and the economy.