The reason why this never gets past a "general approval" for reparations is that it would be extremely racist to institute.
As McConnell pointed out....who benefits and why? Obviously if your parents immigrated here from Uganda in the 80s you probably aren't getting a dime....since laws were in place to protect you from discrimination.
So are we going by a % of African DNA? Probably not....since inevitably that would lead to people like this applying and qualifying for reparations.
How white supremacists respond when their DNA says they’re not ‘white’
That leaves us with some....quite disgustingly racist standard of "blood quantum" wherein one needs a certain number of direct black ancestors in their family tree. If this doesn't sound immediately reprehensible to you....imagine being black, applying for reparations, and being told you aren't "black enough" to qualify.
I suppose we could use the old "I know it when I see it" test....hold up a palette of swatches to people's skin and say "everyone darker than mocha latte" applies. Pretty disgusting and racist.
Then of course....once implemented, why not entertain the arguments of everyone who ever faced widespread discrimination against their race? The Irish, the Italians, the Polish, the Jewish, and so on....and so on...
I remember a time when I was a child and the racial stereotype against Indians was an association with convenience store clerks (think Apu from the Simpsons) and now people tend to think doctor or surgeon instead. Yet who am I to say they haven't faced widespread discrimination?
At the end of the day, there's no good way to do this that isn't simply the creation of a new system of racism. We can either agree these things shouldn't matter, or we can be racists.