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.) slammed the conversation surrounding reparations in the 2020 presidential election, saying that supporting reparations is more than "just a box to check" on a presidential list.

"Can I tell you why I’m frustrated and disappointed by this reparations conversation? It's being reduced to a box to check on a presidential list, when this is so much more of a serious conversation," Booker, a 2020 presidential candidate, said during a CNN town hall in Orangeburg, S.C.

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"So do I support legislation that is race conscious about balancing the economic scales? Not only do I support it, but I have legislation that actually does it," he said before explaining his legislation.

Booker declined to state outright support for reparations.

Cory Booker: “Can I tell you why I’m frustrated and disappointed by this reparations conversation? It’s because it's being reduced to just a box to check on a presidential list when this is so much more of a serious conversation." #BookerTownHall https://t.co/8If7Lkd89C pic.twitter.com/AgozRMHaQk — CNN (@CNN) March 27, 2019

Booker, who is black, went on to explain the ways in which "blacks were systematically excluded" from policies.

"So what I'm saying to you, and my frustration is we don't have a way of addressing head-on in this country the persistence of racism, the persistence of white supremacy and implicit racial bias," he said.

Booker's fellow presidential hopefuls Sens. Kamala Harris Kamala HarrisButtigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice First presidential debate to cover coronavirus, Supreme Court Harris joins women's voter mobilization event also featuring Pelosi, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda MORE (D-Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenHarris joins women's voter mobilization event also featuring Pelosi, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda Judd Gregg: The Kamala threat — the Californiaization of America GOP set to release controversial Biden report MORE (D-Mass.) and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro (D) have all said they support reparations to compensate African-Americans for slavery.