Happy New Year y'all! I know I haven't posted a new chapter in a while. This one is short, but I hope to get another chapter up sometime today. Enjoy Chapter 103!
"Why would you say that reparations would be trillions of dollars Mr. President?" James asked me. I know James is doing his job asking me questions like this; even though I understood that, I couldn't help but feel a sense of controlled rage course through me, because the answer is blatantly obvious.
"Why? The answer is obvious to me, James. The slave trade started in 1619. That is almost four hundred years. Let me ask you a couple of questions, James. Are you familiar with Black Wall Street? The race riots in 1921? African Americans carved a piece of the American dream out for themselves: businesses owned, operated and frequented by African Americans. White residents of Tulsa were threatened by the success and promise of the Greenwood neighborhood, so they ambushed the community, killed 300 people and the scars of this are still being felt by African Americans nearly a century later. I want to right the wrongs that African Americans had to suffer because of white people. Reparations are just the beginning of what I have planned."
"If reparations are just the beginning of the agenda you have planned, what are the other elements of your plan, Mr. President?"
"The other elements of my agenda, would be student loan forgiveness for African American students in both undergraduate and graduate degree programs at every university in the country. I will make sure that more money is allocated to HBCUs, to the tune of millions of dollars. Incentives will be put in place for students to get into Business, Political Science, International Relations. I'm not going to mince words. African Americans need a leg up and they deserve to be at the table especially in business, politics and international affairs. These fields are entirely too white. I have another thing that I want to execute whether by Congressional approval or Executive Order: direct stimulus payments to poor and middle class individuals ages 18 and older, of at least 2,500 a month."
"So, a form of Universal Basic Income. Isn't 2,500 more or less, too generous of a sum Mr. President?"
Once James asked that question, I gave him a look. That familiar sense of rage, I felt a few moments ago, wanted to bubble up to the surface and explode. "Let me ask you a question, James. Is there such a thing as being too generous, when it comes to making amends for the atrocities that African Americans have suffered for so long? Ideally, I want to be more radical and give more, what I just told you was a tame estimate. Frankly, I don't give a damn, about the backlash, I have the interest of Americans on my side. What some fail to realize, is that white people have been in charge since the country was founded. African Americans have been mistreated for far too long, and I am going to do everything in my power to make things right for them, consequences be damned."
This interview was getting heated. Even though I was sitting next to Fitz, I felt like I was a spectator in the midst of a verbal battle of wills between him and James. Fitz was holding my hand throughout the interview, but when James asked about UBI, Fitz released my hand and balled his hand into a fist. Whenever Fitz got angry, his body language would change. He would be tense and be ramrod straight. If someone were to say something inflammatory or incredulous to him, his entire facial expression would change. his eyes would get wide, and his face would morph into a look as if to say, 'what the hell just happened, am I really being asked this question?'
I needed to do something to get him to calm down and I needed to elevate the tension, I needed to do it quickly. I am feeling fine, but the only way I know Fitz would get out of his head, was if something happened to me. I had to feign something.
Next chapter is coming up. Until next time...Taylor
