http://web.archive.org/web/20010908173835/cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,196617-412,00.shtml
Local columnist Neil Steinberg says he would support reparations if it would end racism, but he doesn’t believe it will.
Steinberg says, “I think this will flush every racist out of the woodwork that you can imagine and if I were an African American I would be deeply concerned that this would not only not help things but would reverse things.”
Professor Barack Obama of the University of Chicago supports more discussion on the issue, but says any law would likely be spiked in the courts.
“Nobody denies that slavery was egregious act,” he says. “Generally the Supreme Court has a philosophy that you have to identify a clear wrongdoer and a clear victim.”
Alderman Ed Smith said there’s not enough money in the universe to compensate blacks for what they suffered because of slavery.
“The issue of reparations is being talked about all over the country. It is not being talked about in Congress,” Smith said.