McConnell on reparations for slavery: Not a 'good idea'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday rejected reparations for slavery in part because it would be hard to know whom to pay.

The Kentucky Republican spoke to reporters on the eve of a rare House hearing on what compensation, if any, the U.S. might owe for the economic and other damage done by slavery. The session Wednesday before a Democratic-led subcommittee is Congress' first on the issue in years.

Asked about reparations, McConnell responded: "I don't think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago, for whom none of us currently living are responsible, is a good idea."

"We tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a civil war, by passing landmark civil rights legislation, elected an African American president," Barack Obama, in 2008, McConnell said. "I don't think we should be trying to figure out how to compensate for it. First of all, it would be hard to figure out whom to compensate."

McConnell spoke a day before a Democratic-led House subcommittee was scheduled to hold a hearing on reparations, featuring testimony from actor Danny Glover and author Ta-Nehisi Coates, among others.

Wednesday is "Juneteenth," a celebration of the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, with the news that the Civil War was over, and that all remaining slaves in Texas were free.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.

The 15-year-old son of Tiger Woods tied for 61st among the 74 players who finished. The top five advanced to regional qualifying.

Woods shot 40 on the front nine, opening bogey-double bogey. He followed a birdie on the par-3 fifth with another double bogey. He shot 41 on the back with three bogeys and a double bogey.

The U.S. Open will be played June 13-16 at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina.

Woods also struggled in February in a pre-qualifier for the PGA Tour's Cognizant Classic, taking a 12 on a hole and shooting a 16-over 86 at Lost Lake Golf Club in Hobe Sound.

Woods has played the 36-hole PNC Championship with his father the last four years in a scramble format.

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FILE - Charlie Woods tees off during the final round of the PNC Championship golf tournament Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023, in Orlando, Fla. Charlie Woods, the 15-year-old son of Tiger Woods, failed to qualify for his first U.S. Open after shooting 9-over 81 on Thursday, April 25, 2024, at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida.(AP Photo/Kevin Kolczynski, File)