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Shortly after announcing his intention to run for U.S. Senate, Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said he would support reparations legislation — government-led efforts to make up for the social harms of slavery and other injustices against Black Americans.
In a 2019 radio interview, Ossoff said it was only a question of how much the government was obligated to give.
“There is a debt unpaid. I think it is a very, very difficult question: how to pay it,” Ossoff told a local radio host.
“But see, that should be the question — not if it should be paid,” the host noted.
“Exactly,” Ossoff replied.
Six years later, as Ossoff wages a re-election campaign that’s likely to be one of the most competitive in the nation, his resurfaced comments raise questions about his stance on the proper role of government in addressing social inequality.
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In the past, progressive groups like Movement for Back Lives (M4BL) and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have made reparations a part of their platforms.
“Despite the elimination of Jim Crow and openly discriminatory laws against Black Americans a half century ago, Black people and the Black community as a whole still suffer economic, political and social discrimination and inequality,” DSA stated in 2019.
“Formally equal treatment on the basis of inequality means the perpetuation of inequality. Reparations for these and other offenses is a current topic of significant discussion during this election.”
Ossoff, while not a member of the DSA, said he would support legislation to evaluate the matter.
“Sen. Cory Booker has legislation in the Senate to establish a commission for the purposes of studying the right way to redress the grievance — to pay the debt never paid,” Ossoff said in the 2019 podcast appearance.
“Forty acres and a mule was never paid out,” Ossoff said, referring to an unfulfilled 1865 promise from Union General William Sherman for land redistribution made to former slaves.
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The proposal never became law but has been reintroduced by Booker several times, most recently in 2025. It remains under consideration in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Notably, Ossoff has not signed on as a sponsor.
Conservatives have traditionally opposed reparations, arguing that they would effectively amount to a form of positive discrimination — a treatment based on race, which is prohibited by the 14th Amendment.
The Supreme Court tangentially touched on the issue of positive discrimination in its 2023 decision Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard — a case evaluating affirmative action.
In that case, the court considered whether schools like Harvard had violated the 14th Amendment by creating a different standard for admissions depending on race that favored minorities.
“The student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race,” the court ruled.
“Many universities have for too long done just the opposite. And in doing so, they have concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built or lessons learned by the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”
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Ossoff’s office did not immediately respond to questions on whether he envisioned a constitutional challenge to reparations or if his stance on the proposal had shifted since 2019.
Having cleared the Democratic primary for his race earlier this year, Ossoff now heads to the general election on Nov. 3, where he will face off against Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga.
Ossoff won the election in 2021 in a 50.6% to 49.4% victory over then-Republican incumbent Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga.
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