Dr Phil Faces Backlash Over Reparations Being An Absolute Disaster For The Recipients

 

Dr. Phil's recent remarks on a proposal by Duke University's William A. Darity Jr. that every Black descendant of slavery should receive $350,000 as cash reparations have sparked a heated debate on social media. Darity believes such reparations would help address the massive wealth gap between Black and white people, which he estimates at around $840,000 (Darity, 2021). 

"In the U.S. today, the richest 1 percent of households owns 37 percent of all wealth." (Shapiro , 2013)

On the other hand, Dr. Phil disagrees, arguing that disbursing such a large sum of money to any group of people, irrespective of their race or socioeconomic status, would be an "absolute disaster." 

The issue with Dr. Phil's comment is that it falsely assumes a future outcome. One thing we all need to learn about the future is that it is not 100% clear/certain. Other nationalities that have been paid reparations know what's it like even to have the option to decide disaster.

William Darity responded that only a tiny percentage of recipients would misuse the funds and that the federal government would distribute the payments, similar to pandemic relief funds. Social media users have taken sides, with some supporting Dr. Phil's stance while others are advocating for reparations

Notice the gas-lighting comment made by the man in the audience at 1:26 in the video clip. It is disturbing to see people that know black people helped build the foundation of America and experienced slavery and never paid restitution or repair for the most part. 

Heaven forbid we focus on foundational black American descendants of royalty, then eventually slavery. 

Bob Woodson had the following to say: 

Big thank you to @DrPhil for having me on the show discussing reparations. We have to be defined by more than just victims of oppression #drphil #reparations pic.twitter.com/jk11AX0Kl4

— Bob Woodson (@BobWoodson) April 21, 2023

First off, who paid Bob? 

 At 0.03 seconds he mentioned "Not everyone suffered equally", this deflection and gas-lighting comment acknowledges the wrongdoing but then acts like it was only a tiny sample size that faced injustice.

Do black people who are disproportionate harassed, gang stalked, and arrested more than any other race all affected the same way? No, but that doesn't mean the injustice should be ignored. 

"In both 2002 and 2005, white, black, and Hispanic drivers were stopped by police at similar rates, while blacks and Hispanics were more likely than whites" (Office Of Justice Programs, 2007).  Bob Woodsons entire premise is basically a tactic to make sure the narrative of not all white people owned slaves is (N.A.W.P.O.S). It is yet another deflection tactic not to acknowledge the facts, the fact is that slavery happened, and during reconstruction, civil rights, and the present day there have been many injustices black people have faced and never received repair; neither has the patient checked out of the hospital. 

Let's not talk about slavery for a second and discuss the higher chances of medical complications.

According to a Chen (2015) study, "Overall, African American and Hispanic women were 30–60% more likely to be diagnosed with stage II–IV breast cancer compared to Non-Hispanic whites." (p. 1).

Sure some black women do not face cancer in the medical system, but does that mean the patients who experience cancer do not need treatment, Bob? In our upcoming reparations research page, we will go into much more detail on reparations and the various silly arguments against reparations.

References

Chen L, Li CI. Racial disparities in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment by hormone receptor and HER2 status. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2015 Nov;24(11):1666-72. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-15-0293. Epub 2015 Oct 13. PMID: 26464428; PMCID: PMC4633380.

Darity Jr, W. A. (2021). The true cost of closing the racial wealth gap. New York Times, 30, 3.

Dr. Phil. (2023, April 18). Dr. Phil Panel Discusses Reparations for Black Americans [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_qehhJWv-k

Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey. (2023b, April 21). Dr. Phil Says Slavery Reparations Would Be “Absolute Disaster” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DNdQXIe0K4

Shapiro, T., Meschede, T., & Osoro, S. (2013). The roots of the widening racial wealth gap: Explaining the black-white economic divide.

 

Washington, H. A. (2006). Medical apartheid: The dark history of medical experimentation on Black Americans from colonial times to the present. Doubleday Books.