Democratic presidential candidate Deval Patrick Deval PatrickRalph Gants, chief justice of Massachusetts supreme court, dies at 65 It's as if a Trump operative infiltrated the Democratic primary process Top Democratic super PACs team up to boost Biden MORE on Monday announced support for developing a reparations program as part of his “Equity Agenda for Black Americans."

The agenda released on Martin Luther King Jr. Day also draws on Patrick’s previously released proposals with aims to limit the barriers to wealth and opportunities for black Americans.

“The American Dream remains further out of reach of Black Americans than other Americans, and because of that, America has not fulfilled her promise,” the former Massachusetts governor said in a statement. “In addition to having personally lived the American Dream as an African-American man, what distinguishes me is my demonstrated ability to convert policy proposals into results. That is what I did in Massachusetts as Governor, and that is what I will do as President.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Patrick said he supports a plan in which the federal government would provide reparations to living descendants of enslaved African Americans, but added that “reparations without reconciliation are incomplete.”

Patrick said he backs a resolution introduced by Sen. Cory Booker Cory Anthony BookerBipartisan praise pours in after Ginsburg's death DHS opens probe into allegations at Georgia ICE facility Democratic lawmakers call for an investigation into allegations of medical neglect at Georgia ICE facility MORE (D-N.J.), who dropped out of the 2020 Democratic primary earlier this month, and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Sheila Jackson LeeLawmakers press CDC for guidance on celebrating Halloween during pandemic Sharpton, police reform take center stage at National Mall Sheila Jackson Lee presses Congress to pass reparations bill at DC march MORE (D-Texas) that would establish a commission to study and development reparation proposals.

Several 2020 candidates have signaled support for studying the issue of reparations. Long-shot candidate Marianne Williamson Marianne WilliamsonMarianne Williamson discusses speaking at People's Party Convention Fewer people watched opening night of Democratic convention compared to 2016 Marianne Williamson: Democratic convention 'like binge watching a Marriott commercial' MORE, who dropped out earlier this month, went further than other candidates in proposing a $500 billion plan that would begin payments.

Patrick’s campaign said on Monday that he “hopes and believes that tangible reparations should be expressed in the form” of other plans he’s proposing as part of his agenda for black Americans.

Patrick’s agenda aims to close the opportunity gap between black students and their peers by investing in public school teachers, universal pre-k and subsidized early child care.

ADVERTISEMENT

He also is pushing a plan to provide entrepreneurs and small businesses in minority communities access to capital, mentorship and workforce training programs.

Patrick’s agenda also includes a plan to invest in affordable, quality housing options in communities targeted by redlining and expanding rent-to-own options in public and private housing.

The campaign said Patrick will discuss his agenda when speaking Monday at the NAACP King Day celebration at the Dome in South Carolina.