Warren backs congressional plan for reparations study

JACKSON, Miss. — Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren on Monday embraced a congressional proposal to study a framework for reparations to African-Americans hurt by the legacy of slavery as the best way to begin a "national, full-blown conversation" on the issue.

Warren first voiced support for reparations last month, becoming one of three 2020 Democratic candidates to do so. But her comments about a study on reparations, made during a CNN town hall broadcast from Mississippi, mark a keener focus from the Massachusetts senator on her preferred route to tackle the thorny question of how best to deal with systemic racial inequality.

The Democratic field's ongoing debate over reparations comes as African-American voters are poised to exert significant influence over the selection of the party's nominee to take on President Donald Trump.

Warren offered in-depth answers to several other questions that touched on issues important to African-American communities, winning cheers for a call for Mississippi to replace its state flag — the only one in the nation that depicts a Confederate image. Warren, 69, has made racial justice a centerpiece of her case for the Democratic nomination, even as she doubles down on her long-running emphasis on economic inequity.

AP