Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) appeared on The Breakfast Club on Monday to discuss his views on social issues including his position on slavery reparations.
Last week, Sanders came under fire after he seemingly avoided declaring a stand on reparations for the descendants of African slaves during a CNN town hall. The criticism came after Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), who are also 2020 presidential hopefuls, supported the idea of some form of economic repayment to the Black community.
"Why does it seem like this week you've been dodging the reparations question," co-host Charlamagne tha God asked. "Sen. Harris and Sen. Warren have both spoken out and say that they agree with some form of reparations."
"I'm not dodging the question," Sanders retorted. "The question is, what do we mean by reparations? It seems to me a lot of people mean a lot of different things."
"To my mind, it means that we have to deal with that fact that there is an enormous disparity between the Black community and the White community," he continued. "That issue has to be addressed and I've indicated some of the ways I think it should be."
The senator added he doesn't believe that checks will solve the issue. He stated that reframing the banking system to do away with instutionalized racism is the first step to solving the gaps in society.
Charlamagne didn't agree with the suggestion. He posted a snippet of the Sanders interview to his personal Instagram account with the caption, "Pay the descendants of enslaved Africans!! Black Americans have been deliberately abused by America. Time for the land of the free, home of the brave to pay restitution."
Watch the full interview below.
