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Keyes is making a point about reparations in a round about way. The lib establishment will naturally decry this idea, even though exemption from the federal income tax would be a huge advantage/incentive for all black people. They just can't imagine a program that rewards success and hard work as opposed to handout. It's also a nice first step, since Keyes is really interested in getting rid of the income tax all together. I have discussed a similar idea with many liberals and it ties them in knots.

This would actually be a great idea for reinvigorating the inner cities. Politicians have tried for ages to spend unreal sums of money with thousands of strings attached and have taken the heart and soul away from these people.

Under this idea we would just let the people keep their money and use it however they choose and strengthen their own economies.

When left to themselves, the great people struggling in these inner cities can finance their own charge out of the trap of the social spending "Safety Net". Funny, the safety net has always been over their heads instead of under them.

This is new. I'm having a hard time buying that this story is true.

Yeah, it's true. It's also reported in the Chicago Sun Times:

On another issue, Keyes on Monday said he supported reparations for descendants of slaves -- an apparent switch in his position.

Keyes suggested descendants of slaves should be exempt from paying federal income taxes. But in a March 27, 2002, transcript of his show "Making Sense," Keyes -- who wants to abolish the federal income tax for everyone -- suggested that reparations were an insult.

"You want to tell me that what they suffered can actually be repaired with money?" Keyes asked at the time.

Keyes, through a spokesman, said late Monday he does not support reparations if other people's money is used. "If you couldn't get the income tax abolished totally, that [exemption for slave descendants] is incremental progress," spokesman Bill Pascoe said.

Yeah, I don't believe it. I was in touch with the Keyes website yesterday and quickly received an answer saying he doesn't support reparations for slavery. He wrote a column about it called "Paid in Blood".

And what an unfortunate season, indeed, for some to renew their effort to extort "reparations" for slavery from their fellow citizens.

Yet, lawsuits have been filed. Those responsible propose to settle the accounts of slavery leaving the Civil War out of the equation – complete and utter nonsense. The price for the sin of slavery has already been paid, in blood.

To answer the reparations question, we must re-awaken a living understanding of the great moral drama played out in blood, treasure and human spirit on the battlefields of America a century and a half ago.

A couple of guys played a sound bite of Keyes on WLSAM yesterday. Their set-up for the clip was as careful and uninformative as the one here in the news article. There was nothing in the clip itself that indicated he was talking about reparations. Only the set up caused one to think this. Keyes does, though, refer to the income tax as a slave tax and says that we should be freed from that. I bet that it comes out that this was deliberate political spin by Keyes opponents trying to weaken his support with IL Republicans.

This is new. I'm having a hard time buying that this story is true.

Me too. This isn't Rome, it's America, and it's 2004.
It seems odd Keyes would want to punish those who have committed no crime. We weren't there. We had nothing to do with it. Punish the slave holders, not us.
This doesn't sound like Keyes. If we find out later it's true, Keyes is forever toast. I hope this article is just another Boston Globe . The Globe never gets it right.

Its true.

MH KING put a response from Keyes on his website...

I have to stew over this. Is this disagreement enough for me to lose respect for him??

MHKING'S website is here : http://mhking.mu.nu/