# Does My Opposition to H.R.40 Make Me Semi-Racist?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [June 20, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808 "2019-06-20T15:35:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/1 "2019-06-20T15:35:07Z")
Yes I am a white man.
Yes I acknowledge that our country has some terrible racist history.
Yes I acknowledge that - to a far lesser extent - that racism still exists.
Yes I believe our country has done a lot to improve and provide for minorities since the Civil Rights movement.
No I do not - in any form - support H.R. 40
I am a registered Democrat that is struggling with this party lately but would be over the moon if Tulsi Gabbard or Andrew Yang were to become POTUS (I know very very unlikely).
However, I listen to Corey Booker and others during the H.R. 40 congressional testimony and I not only think this bill is hyperbole and a ludicrous tactical error to placate the far left, but I also believe this will drive away moderate/centrist voters while not doing much other than to solidfy voters the dems were mostly getting anyway.
The only silver lining I see is that our current joke of a POTUS is doing everything in his power to ensure the history books rank his term at the White House and Marlago somewhere between Pierce and Buchannan.
So unload if you must, am I just “not progressive enough” or semi to full blown racist? ☹
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/2 "2019-06-20T15:38:20Z")
Since OP didn’t elaborate, H.R. 40 is the ongoing African-American reparations bill.
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### Author:  [@Unreconstructed\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unreconstructed_Man)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/3 "2019-06-20T15:39:58Z")
According to some polls, nearly 40% of black Americans also oppose slavery reparations.
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### Author:  [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/4 "2019-06-20T15:41:11Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> Since OP didn’t elaborate, H.R. 40 is the ongoing African-American reparations bill.
Thank you Velocity, apologies for my vaugeness 😃
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/5 "2019-06-20T15:47:45Z")
HR 40, if passed, would accomplish nothing more than study and research. If you think pushing for reparations in any way is a political error at this time and would hurt the chances of the Democrats, that’s one thing. If you don’t think any of this should be studied or researched at all, then that’s a different thing. Which is it?
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/6 "2019-06-20T15:50:22Z")
I’m for reparations; I just wish we wouldn’t actually call it reparations.
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/7 "2019-06-20T15:52:36Z")
There are racist and non-racist reasons for opposing the bill. So it depends on what your reasons are.
In general, I think the vast majority of opponents are just ignorant. They might be deliberately ignorant or not. But most, for example, think the bill is about reparations for slavery exclusively, and not a century of state-sponsored discrimination thereafter. Not to mention being uninformed about, say, federal housing policy in the period from 1945 to 1975.
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### Author:  [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/8 "2019-06-20T15:57:32Z")
> [@chargerrich](#):
>
> I am a registered Democrat that is struggling with this party lately but would be over the moon if Tulsi Gabbard or Andrew Yang were to become POTUS (I know very very unlikely).
>
> However, I listen to Corey Booker and others during the H.R. 40 congressional testimony and I not only think this bill is hyperbole and a ludicrous tactical error to placate the far left, but I also believe this will drive away moderate/centrist voters while not doing much other than to solidfy voters the dems were mostly getting anyway.
[Gabbard is a co-sponsor of HR 40.](https://www.reddit.com/r/tulsi/comments/ayke0i/tulsi_gabbard_cosponsors_reparations_legislation/)
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/9 "2019-06-20T15:59:37Z")
I don’t think anyone has to support 100% of any candidate’s agenda. This bill is pretty harmless and even if you don’t support it, it’s not going to hurt you or anyone else.
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### Author:  [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/10 "2019-06-20T16:10:59Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#):
>
> HR 40, if passed, would accomplish nothing more than study and research. If you think pushing for reparations in any way is a political error at this time and would hurt the chances of the Democrats, that’s one thing. If you don’t think any of this should be studied or researched at all, then that’s a different thing. Which is it?
Exactly. Section 1 of H.R. 40 (Short Title) is as follows:
> [@](#):
>
> This Act may be cited as the “Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act”.
Here are the powers of this commission (Section 5)
> [@](#):
>
> SEC. 5. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.
>
> (a) Hearings And Sessions.—The Commission may, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, hold such hearings and sit and act at such times and at such places in the United States, and request the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the production of such books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents, as the Commission considers appropriate. The Commission may invoke the aid of an appropriate United States district court to require, by subpoena or otherwise, such attendance, testimony, or production.
>
> (b) Powers Of Subcommittees And Members.—Any subcommittee or member of the Commission may, if authorized by the Commission, take any action which the Commission is authorized to take by this section.
>
> (c) Obtaining Official Data.—The Commission may acquire directly from the head of any department, agency, or instrumentality of the executive branch of the Government, available information which the Commission considers useful in the discharge of its duties. All departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the executive branch of the Government shall cooperate with the Commission with respect to such information and shall furnish all information requested by the Commission to the extent permitted by law.
That’s it.
And this commission has to report it’s findings and recommendations to Congress. And then Congress can do whatever it wants with it.
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### Author:  [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/11 "2019-06-20T16:22:29Z")
> [@chargerrich](#):
>
> No I do not - in any form - support H.R. 40
“In any form”? Weird choice of words. The bill has one form. [Here it is](https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/40/text). Which part do you find objectionable?
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/12 "2019-06-20T16:32:02Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#):
>
> Exactly. Section 1 of H.R. 40 (Short Title) is as follows:
> Here are the powers of this commission (Section 5)
> That’s it.
>
> And this commission has to report it’s findings and recommendations to Congress. And then Congress can do whatever it wants with it.
Seems like a harmless bill to me, and could lead to some good somewhere down the road.
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### Author:  [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/13 "2019-06-20T17:10:33Z")
> [@Covfefe](#):
>
> [Gabbard is a co-sponsor of HR 40.](https://www.reddit.com/r/tulsi/comments/ayke0i/tulsi_gabbard_cosponsors_reparations_legislation/)
Yes I am aware, that was the reason I mentioned her. She is - generally speaking - my “type” of democratic candidate. Military service, younger, moderately progressive. H.R. 40 is not a show stopper for my candidate choice(s).
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### Author:  [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/14 "2019-06-20T17:32:31Z")
Would it be fair to say that a large number of people are being snookered by the overheated rhetoric regarding reparations, and are forming their opposition to H.R.40 without understanding what the bill actually does?
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### Author:  [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/15 "2019-06-20T17:42:44Z")
> [@Icarus](#):
>
> Would it be fair to say that a large number of people are being snookered by the overheated rhetoric regarding reparations, and are forming their opposition to H.R.40 without understanding what the bill actually does?
I would be interested to know what the split is of registered democrats that believe this is more of a tactic than a serious attempt at actual reparations.
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### Author:  [@CAH66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CAH66)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/16 "2019-06-20T18:13:23Z")
> [@chargerrich](#):
>
> I would be interested to know what the split is of registered democrats that believe this is more of a tactic than a serious attempt at actual reparations.
As tactics go, I think it’s far more likely to be damaging than helpful. Then again, that certainly does sound like the Democrats…
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/17 "2019-06-20T18:14:57Z")
> [@chargerrich](#):
>
> I would be interested to know what the split is of registered democrats that believe this is more of a tactic than a serious attempt at actual reparations.
And I would be interested to know what specifically in this bill you object to.
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### Author:  [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/18 "2019-06-20T18:31:16Z")
It is disingenuous of those who support possible reparations to assert that there is nothing to worry about with this bill because it would just authorize a study of reparations. Without such a study, reparations won’t happen. For anyone opposed to the idea of reparations, there’s no point in launching a study.
I would oppose any attempt at reparations for the fact of having enslaved Africans to work in the United States. My opposition is simple: you cannot “repair” what has been done because the people who were enslaved are long dead, as are their children. So all you are doing is either attempting to assuage your conscience over the fact that this happened in the past, or attempting to mollify modern-day descendants who (understandably) may harbor lingering resentment that the whole slavery thing happened at all. Alternatively, you could be offering reparations not so much for slavery, as for everything that has happened since the Civil War. But, if we do that, we open a real can of worms, because the country has suppressed the civil rights of so many groups of people that it would be hard to see how that wouldn’t mean an almost endless series of such requests.
Since I oppose the idea of reparations (and no, I don’t think that makes me racist), I oppose the idea of “studying” reparations.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/19 "2019-06-20T18:43:05Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#):
>
> It is disingenuous of those who support possible reparations to assert that there is nothing to worry about with this bill because it would just authorize a study of reparations. Without such a study, reparations won’t happen. For anyone opposed to the idea of reparations, there’s no point in launching a study.
>
> I would oppose any attempt at reparations for the fact of having enslaved Africans to work in the United States. My opposition is simple: you cannot “repair” what has been done because the people who were enslaved are long dead, as are their children. So all you are doing is either attempting to assuage your conscience over the fact that this happened in the past, or attempting to mollify modern-day descendants who (understandably) may harbor lingering resentment that the whole slavery thing happened at all. Alternatively, you could be offering reparations not so much for slavery, as for everything that has happened since the Civil War. But, if we do that, we open a real can of worms, because the country has suppressed the civil rights of so many groups of people that it would be hard to see how that wouldn’t mean an almost endless series of such requests.
>
> Since I oppose the idea of reparations (and no, I don’t think that makes me racist), I oppose the idea of “studying” reparations.
I take it you opposed reparations for the survivors of Japanese-American internment, then? TNC (the most prominent journalist/writer advocate for HR 40) has advocated that reparations should start with the living Americans who were harmed by discriminatory policies like Redlining, segregation, and more.
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### Author:  [@CAH66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CAH66)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-my-opposition-to-h-r-40-make-me-semi-racist/835808/20 "2019-06-20T18:44:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> And I would be interested to know what specifically in this bill you object to.
I find myself unable to even imagine any set of reparations that would satisfy the nation. I don’t believe anything would ever be enough to make the majority of the black population feel like justice was done. I don’t think there’s any amount the majority of the white population would feel was appropriate. I don’t think any measure with “Reparations” in the title has a chance in hell in passing through Congress, let alone getting put into law.
I oppose the bill because quite frankly, I think the effort is nothing more than a huge waste of time, effort, and money that will never achieve practical results, but will simply add more fuel to the dumpster fire that race relations are in the US.
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