The outcry over Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s assertion that Democrats want “reparation” because they support payments to criminals has drawn new attention to the issue of reparations, a term that refers to some form of compensation for Black Americans for the lingering economic consequences of slavery and the discriminatory policies that followed it.

Ron Daniels, convener of the National African American Reparations Commission, told The Hill in the wake of Tuberville’s comment: “There is no better moment than a moment like this, when essentially Black people have been accused of being criminals and using criminality as a basis for reparations.”

Tuberville mentioned “reparation” during his speech at a rally with former President Donald Trump in Nevada on Saturday night, a rally to support Republican candidates in that state. The senator was describing what he called the “pro-crime” views of Democrats.

“They want crime because they want to take over what you got,” Tuberville said. “They want to control what you have. They want reparation because they think the people that do the crime are owed that.”

Democrats in Alabama and elsewhere have denounced Tuberville’s statement as racist and nonsensical. Tuberville has not responded to questions about the condemnation of his remarks.

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The idea of reparations has been proposed for decades.

Proponents note that although slavery was no longer officially sanctioned by the government after 1865, Black Americans remained locked out of much of the nation’s economy and the opportunities to build and pass on sustaining household wealth that white citizens take for granted, as well as denied equality in education and the criminal justice system.

A bill to create a commission to study the issues and propose reparations was first introduced more than 30 years ago by the late Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan. The legislation has never come close to passing. The main sponsor now is Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.

In April 2021, the House Judiciary Committee approved Lee’s bill on an 25-17 vote. That was the first time it ever won committee approval. It has not come up for a vote before the House.

The only Black member of Alabama’s congressional delegation, Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, is a co-sponsor of the bill, known as H.R. 40.

Asked if the outcry over Tuberville’s statement could help generate momentum to bring H.R. 40 to the floor for a vote in the Democrat-controlled House, Christopher Kosteva, Sewell’s press secretary, said, “As for the timing of a vote on the House Floor, Rep. Sewell would leave that to House leadership to decide.”

As for Tuberville’s claim that Democrats are “pro-crime,” Kosteva listed four bills House Democrats have passed this year that he said support community safety, crime reduction, and police funding.

The co-author of a report by The Brookings Institution, “Why we need reparations for Black Americans,” said he hopes the firestorm over Tuberville’s comment will prompt people to learn more about the issue.

Rashawn Ray is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and is executive director of the Lab for Applied Social Science Research at the University of Maryland.

“I think Senator Tuberville’s comments are racist and inflammatory,” Ray said.

“He made millions of dollars off the efforts of Black men on the football field (Tuberville was head coach at Auburn and three other universities) and then has the nerve to conflate reparations with crime. For Tuberville, criminal is synonymous with Black. Black people do not want crime in our neighborhoods. What Black people do want is racial justice.”

The Brookings Institution report says the median net wealth for white families, $171,000, was 10 times that of Black families in America, according to the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances.

“Tuberville’s comments have put a bull’s eye on the need for reparations as well as truth and reconciliation,” Ray said. “Black people are demanding reparations because there is a debt owed. Restitution is paramount. People should definitely read about HR 40 as well as better understand background of reparations in the U.S. We aimed to provide some clarity in our article on reparations.”

Rep. Lee, The sponsor of the bill to create a commission on reparations, has called on President Biden to follow through on what she said was a commitment to issue an executive order creating such a commission.

Under Lee’s bill, a 13-member commission would issue a report to Congress on its findings and recommendations within a year after its first meeting.