Article originally appeared on thefederalist.com.
The United Nations last month urged reparations across the globe for the descendants of transatlantic slavery.
“Reparatory justice is not just about addressing the wrongful acts of the past, it is about building societies that are truly inclusive, equal and free from racism,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a press release.
In America, reparations could cost close to $12.9 trillion. The financial burden would fall mostly on taxpayers whose ancestors had nothing to do with slavery, according to an Oct. 19 Manhattan Institute report.
“Since the 2020 ‘racial reckoning,’ there has been increased political momentum behind reparations for slavery,” Manhattan Institute Fellow Charles Fain Lehman wrote in the report. “To ask the question ‘Who pays?’ produces uncomfortable answers.”
The cost of paying reparations to black Americans is uncertain, according to the report. It could range from $196 billion to $53.3 trillion, but the average across all estimates is $12.9 trillion. For comparison, closing the black-white wealth gap could cost $15 trillion.
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