Maryland governor declares time of reparations studies is over, urges action to serve minority communities

Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore argued to radio host Charlamagne tha God that the time of commissioned studies into reparations is over, arguing in favor of immediate action to serve Black communities.

Moore, America’s only sitting Black governor, ruffled feathers among his allies when he vetoed reparations legislation in May. Moore vetoed SB 587, legislation sponsored by state Sen. C. Anthony Muse, D-Forest Heights, that would have established the Maryland Reparations Commission. The commission would have been tasked with providing recommendations by 2027 "relating to appropriate benefits to be offered to African Americans impacted by slavery and historic inequality."

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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore touted himself as a person of action taking immediate steps to help the Black community, arguing the time for multi-year studies is past. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)

"Exactly. I mean, listen, what I said was, ‘I'm a person of action. I don't need more studies.’ I’m like, 'We've done four studies over the past 20 years on similar types of elements,'" he said. "By the way, one of which my wife worked on. And, so, when we're now talking about doing a two-year study on something that I already know the answer to, I'm like, ‘What are we studying?’"

He argued that he is already doing the actual work to address the problem. 

"Frankly, I've been working very closely with the members of our caucus and members of the community around a whole series of these issues," he said. 

"It's the reason that we just authorized $400 million for our Just Communities initiative, which made sure that we're putting $400 million of additional capital into communities that have been the subject — that have been truly hurt by racist and discriminatory policies — things like redlining, things like mass incarceration, things like highway construction that cut off neighborhoods that we’ve said, 'We are going to identify all those communities and neighborhoods, and we're starting off with just $400 million that's going specifically to those neighborhoods to address the racist policies of the past.'

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There has been a battle for years over whether those directly descended from slaves or entire Black communities should receive government benefits to make amends for slavery and other past policies. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

"It’s the reason that we’ve done things like historic investments in our HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] because they’ve been historically neglected and pulled back on," he added. "It’s the reason we’ve done things like mass pardons and giving people a second chance at life, because who do people think that is going to benefit most? It’s the reason we’ve done things like procurement reform and created Black millionaires inside of the state of Maryland."

Moore said he was "unapologetic" about his support for the Black community.

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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore was not shy about his efforts to specifically aid people of his own racial background.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Fox News' Charles Creitz contributed to this report.