BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) – Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke is not in favor of traditional reparations for African-Americans for the legacy of slavery but says it is important to confront the truth about how black people have been treated in the U.S.

At a house party in Muscatine, Iowa, on Thursday night, O’Rourke said the United States needs to recognize that systematic racism exists in the country.

Other Democratic presidential candidates, including Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, have also spoken of the need for the U.S. government to reckon with and make up for centuries of stolen labor and legal oppression. Some have talked about using tax credits and other subsidies as reparations.

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