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California’s first-in-nation reparations taskforce to release final report California’s first-in-nation reparations taskforce releases final report
(about 8 hours later)
The document could serve as a national blueprint for how states atone for their history of racial violence against Black residents The 1,100-page document details examples of discrimination and recommends how to address the harms of chattel slavery
California’s first-in-the-nation reparations taskforce will on Thursday release its final report with recommendations for how the state should atone for its history of racial violence and discrimination against Black residents. California’s first-in-the-nation reparations taskforce released its final report with recommendations for how the state should atone for its history of racial violence and discrimination against Black residents on Thursday.
This document, which could serve as a national model for how governments can attempt to right the wrongs of the past, marks the end of a nearly three-year effort that began in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the ensuing reckoning around systemic racism and anti-Blackness in the US.This document, which could serve as a national model for how governments can attempt to right the wrongs of the past, marks the end of a nearly three-year effort that began in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the ensuing reckoning around systemic racism and anti-Blackness in the US.
A draft of the final report approved in May included an account of historical discrimination against Black Californians in nearly all areas of life. In that version, the taskforce recommended lawmakers issue an apology, advised the state to make cash payments to descendants of enslaved people eligible for restitution and implement rent caps in historically redlined neighborhoods, among other proposals. The nearly-1,100-page document includes detailed examples of historical discrimination against Black Californians that have persisted for more than a century and affect nearly all areas of life. The taskforce recommended that the state legislature make a formal apology to Black residents for “the atrocities committed by California state actors who promoted, facilitated, enforced, and permitted the institution of chattel slavery … incidents of slavery that form the systemic structures of discrimination”, the report reads.
The report suggests more than 100 ways to repair the harm, including paying descendants of enslaved people for having suffered under racist actions such as over-policing and housing discrimination.
“This book of truth will be a legacy, will be a testament to the full story,” said Lisa Holder, a civil rights attorney and taskforce member. “Anyone who says that we are colorblind, that we have solved the problem of anti-Black ... racism, I challenge you to read this document.”
This report weighs 400 years pic.twitter.com/T97T9oDXvj
To reach these demands, taskforce members had to distill input from hundreds of experts and deliberate on who exactly would qualify for reparations and which areas of society, like housing and education, were the most pressing to address. Over more than two years, the nine-person team of civil rights leaders, attorneys, lawmakers and academics held 15 public meetings to gather information and hear expert testimony about California’s history of discrimination.To reach these demands, taskforce members had to distill input from hundreds of experts and deliberate on who exactly would qualify for reparations and which areas of society, like housing and education, were the most pressing to address. Over more than two years, the nine-person team of civil rights leaders, attorneys, lawmakers and academics held 15 public meetings to gather information and hear expert testimony about California’s history of discrimination.
Though California became a free state in 1850, 15 years before the emancipation proclamation was signed, it did not enact any laws to guarantee freedom for all. For over a decade, the state supreme court enforced the federal Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed for the capture and return of runaway enslaved people. In the decades after slavery was abolished, Black Californians experienced redlining, discriminatory housing practices and segregation in schools.Though California became a free state in 1850, 15 years before the emancipation proclamation was signed, it did not enact any laws to guarantee freedom for all. For over a decade, the state supreme court enforced the federal Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed for the capture and return of runaway enslaved people. In the decades after slavery was abolished, Black Californians experienced redlining, discriminatory housing practices and segregation in schools.
The reparations taskforce in June 2022 released a 500-page report that detailed 170 years of state-sanctioned discrimination and described “segregation, racial terror [and] harmful racist neglect” inflicted on Black people across the US and in California. “Atrocities in nearly every sector of civil society have inflicted harms, which cascade over a lifetime and compound over generations, resulting in the current wealth gap between Black and white Americans,” the report concluded.The reparations taskforce in June 2022 released a 500-page report that detailed 170 years of state-sanctioned discrimination and described “segregation, racial terror [and] harmful racist neglect” inflicted on Black people across the US and in California. “Atrocities in nearly every sector of civil society have inflicted harms, which cascade over a lifetime and compound over generations, resulting in the current wealth gap between Black and white Americans,” the report concluded.
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Since California codified its taskforce at the end of September 2020, cities including San Francisco, Boston and Detroit have established their own committees to explore what atoning for injustices suffered by Black Americans could look like. And while California was the first state to form an official committee, the effort is part of a broader decades-long collective campaign by racial justice activists and scholars to get the US to not only acknowledge historic harms but put money behind righting wrongs.Since California codified its taskforce at the end of September 2020, cities including San Francisco, Boston and Detroit have established their own committees to explore what atoning for injustices suffered by Black Americans could look like. And while California was the first state to form an official committee, the effort is part of a broader decades-long collective campaign by racial justice activists and scholars to get the US to not only acknowledge historic harms but put money behind righting wrongs.
Fervor around reparations has swelled to unprecedented levels since 2020. There is no universally agreed upon standard for what reparations for Black Americans should look like. Actions from direct cash payments to returning land to Black families are all being pursued in various capacities across the nation.Fervor around reparations has swelled to unprecedented levels since 2020. There is no universally agreed upon standard for what reparations for Black Americans should look like. Actions from direct cash payments to returning land to Black families are all being pursued in various capacities across the nation.
California’s taskforce has also recommended the state create a cabinet-level secretary position to lead an African American/freedman affairs agency that would be charged with implementing recommendations and carrying on its work in the legislature, according to the draft report. California’s taskforce also recommended that state legislators create a new agency, akin to the freedmen’s bureau, which was established in 1865 to support formerly enslaved Black Americans. In this present context, the new agency would handle the implementation of the reparations plan, oversee direct payments and determine the eligibility of those seeking reparations.
The panel will send its final report to lawmakers who will weigh the recommendations and any decisions would then have to be approved by the governor. Thursday’s meeting coincided with the US supreme court striking down affirmative action in higher education, programs that have disproportionately helped Black students. The ruling will not affect public colleges or universities in California because its voters eliminated state and local government affirmative action in 1996.
The process will take time, lawmakers have said, as they debate over issues such as whether to approve reparations in the form of cash payments and what that amount might be. The state could owe upwards of $800bn, more than 2.5 times its annual budget, in reparations, according to economists’ projections. The draft report released by the taskforce included a far lower estimate for the cost of reparations. Taskforce members said their suggestions will pass legal muster because the benefits suggested would only go to descendants of enslaved people, not to all Black residents.
The Associated Press contributed to this report