The court ruling comes after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) alleged that Howard failed to pay $578,000 in income taxes between 2010 and 2019.

According to reports from the Philadelphia Inquirer, the 54-year-old star of the hit TV show "Empire" had been unresponsive to the IRS's attempts to collect the outstanding taxes for over a year. The Justice Department eventually filed a lawsuit against Howard in 2022, but the actor failed to formally respond.

In November 2023, Howard reportedly left a voicemail for the case's lead tax attorney, denying any liability and threatening to publicly shame her by posting the lawsuit online. The actor's voicemail also made a passionate argument against the government's taxation, particularly on descendants of slaves.

Citing "four hundred years of forced labor and never receiving any compensation for it," Howard denounced the immorality of the government charging taxes to the descendants of a broken people that they were responsible for causing. He further criticized the government's actions and called for the entire United States to become the property of the descendants of slaves.

Howard's comments align with the ongoing national discussion surrounding reparations for the descendants of slaves. Advocates for reparations argue that billions of dollars should be disseminated by institutions and government officials as a remedy for the unpaid labor during slavery. This call for reparations has led to the establishment of task forces in municipalities across the country, including Boston, San Francisco, New York, and Evanston, Illinois.

Evanston, Illinois became the first city in the nation to pass a reparation plan, committing $10 million over 10 years to support Black residents. At the federal level, a lawmaker has even sponsored a resolution that seeks to acknowledge the United States' "legal and moral obligation" to institute reparations.

As Howard faces the default judgment due to his lack of response to the lawsuit and failed efforts to reach him, the actor's latest statements have added fuel to the ongoing debate surrounding reparations and the government's responsibility towards the descendants of slaves. The case has also highlighted the importance of addressing the historical ties to slavery and the ways in which communities and institutions can work towards rectifying the injustices of the past.