O’Rourke says he would support creating commission to study reparations

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) said Wednesday that, if elected president, he would support legislation to create a commission to study reparations for black Americans as a remedy for slavery and other racist policies in U.S. history.

O’Rourke said at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network convention in New York that he would back a resolution that was reintroduced last year by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), according to The Associated Press. 

{mosads}The proposal would establish the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans to “examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies,” according to a summary of the bill.

O’Rourke added Wednesday that “foundational to reparations is the word repair, foundational to repair is the truth,” the AP reported. 

In saying he would support the resolution, O’Rourke became the latest 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to indicate openness to reparations for black Americans. 

Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), other top candidates for the nomination, have each previously said they support some form of reparations, as has former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro.