Ohio GOP Candidate Suggests Reparations for White Civil War Union Soldiers

Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno has suggested that reparations should be paid to the descendants of white Civil War soldiers who "freed slaves" while fighting for the Union.

Moreno, an ally of former President Donald Trump, made the remarks this week during a speech to announce his candidacy in Ohio's 2024 U.S. Senate election, when the seat of incumbent Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown will be contested.

The Republican candidate, who immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia as a child, praised a number of white and largely slave-owning Founding Fathers for winning the Revolutionary War, before saying that the "same group" went on to "free Black people."

"We stand on shoulders of people like John Adams, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington," said Moreno. "This group of people took on the largest empire in history. They said no, we will not stand for this, and won. That same group of people later, white people, died to free Black people."

"It's never happened in human history before, but it happened here in America," he continued. "That's not talked about in schools very much, is it? They make it sound like America is a racist, broken country. Name another country that did that, that freed slaves, that died to do that."

Moreno urged his supporters to avoid being "politically correct" after suggesting that discussions on reparations should focus on white people. He did not suggest that any reparations should be paid to the Black descendants of American slaves.

"You know, when they talk about reparations, where are the reparations for the people in the north who died to save the lives of Black people?" Moreno said. "I know it's not politically correct to say that. But you know what? We gotta stop being politically correct, we gotta call it how it is."

Video of Moreno's comments emerged on social media Friday, prompting some angry responses and accusations of racism. Some also pointed that a form of reparations were paid to some white former slave owners during the Civil War.

Slave owners in Washington, D.C., received a then-significant sum of $300 per freed slave under the D.C. Compensated Emancipation Act, which was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on April 16, 1862.

Under the law, freed slaves were offered $100 each on the condition that they permanently left the country, with those choosing to remain receiving no compensation.

Newsweek has reached out online to the Moreno campaign for comment.

Moreno is one of two Republicans who've announced bids to take Brown's seat in 2024, with the other being Ohio State Senator Matt Dolan. Moreno and Dolan were GOP primary candidates in last year's Ohio U.S. Senate election, losing out to now-Senator J.D. Vance.

Moreno dropped out of the 2022 race early after a "private meeting" with the former president, reasoning that there were too many Trump-aligned candidates vying for the seat.