It’s just the beginning of reparations compensation that California wants to give to each person who qualifies. This will go to descendants of a slave or to a free black person prior to the end of the 19th century. But there’s a lot of blacks in the state, 2.5 million so qualifications aren’t clear. The panel that voted came up with different amounts trying quantify this in 21st century terms.
California wants to give people of color a lot
The New York Times reported, “The initial down payment is the beginning of a process of addressing historical injustices not the end of it.” Since the state legislature is Democrat, assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer expects this will be implemented.
“The reality is black Californians have suffered, and continue to suffer, from institutional laws and policies within our state’s political, social, and economic landscape that have negated blacks from achieving life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for generations. This really is a trial against America’s original sin, slavery, and the repercussions it caused and the lingering effects in modern society,” Jones-Sawyer said.
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California Democrat says this brings justice
Rep. Barbara Lee said, “Reparations are not only morally justifiable, but they have the potential to address long-standing racial disparities and inequalities.” But others have said it’s too little, too late.
Rev. Tony Pierce brought up that freed slaves were given 40 acres and a mule. In 2023 terms, that’s a lot of money.
“You know that the numbers should be equivocal to what an acre was back then. We were given 40, OK? We were given 40 acres. You know what that number is. You keep trying to talk about now, yet you research back to slavery and you say nothing about slavery, nothing. So, the equivocal number from the 1860s for 40 acres to today is $200 million for each and every African American.”
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California wants to give equity
The reparations task force thought a public apology would be appropriate. Chris Lodgson is the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California. He remarked, “An apology and an admission of wrongdoing just by itself is not going to be satisfactory.” The apology should “include a censure of the gravest barbarities”.
This panel also thought there should be new laws in place. Among them is ending Proposition 209 which was passed in 1996. That banned affirmative action and prompted an analysis of every law to make sure there was no racial impact.
