Black Californians could be in line for $360,000 each as part of the state’s plan to dish out ‘reparations’ to descendants of slaves.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber told a meeting today that California must ‘admit its sins and change the narrative,’ to pave the way for initiatives similar to ones already being considered in other states.
But there has been no detail about how the $650 billion project will be funded amid concerns over California’s growing deficit which is expected to worsen due to a jobs blood bath in its tax-generating Silicon Valley.
And members of the black community were divided over the plan, with one woman saying racial injustice would not be solved ‘if we just throw money at it.’
Others accused the scheme of being nothing more than ‘political theatre’ and ‘marketing’ rather than offering genuine support to black Americans.
Members of the public welcomed plans to pay reparations, with one man saying, pictured, said money is the only to stop ‘our childen busting into liqour stores’
Another member of the public, pictured, accused the taskforce of being more concerned with creating ‘political theatre’ and ‘marketing’ than genuinely helping black Americans
A nine-member ‘Reparations Task Force’ was set up in 2020 by California Governor Gavin Newsom following nationwide protests for racial justice in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.
Previous estimates suggested the payments could be as much as $220,000 each for the state’s 1.8 million black citizens.
But in a meeting on Friday, the Reparations Task Force indicated the cheques could actually be as high as $350,000 as they seek to compensate Black citizens for generations of discriminatory practices.
However there have been difficulties from the start around how the harms suffered by black Americans could be accurately measured.
What’s more, many residents are concerned with how the reparations will be paid in practice.
One man wearing a top hat demanded they be made in cash payments direct to black citizens.
‘There is only one thing that would stimulate this economy – and I need you to spread the word what you heard – and that one thing is capital, money, reparations,’ he told the meeting.
‘That will stimulate the economy for the millions of blacks in California.
The reparations taskforce has divided California’s black residents. One woman, pictured, pointed out it was created by Governor Gavin Newsom, Senate President Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon – none of whom are black
‘There is only one thing that would stop our children busting into these liquor stores and grocery stores, stealing junk food and different things and that’s reparations.’
However Gloria Pierrot-Dyer, 71, disagreed.
She said: ‘If you want to do something it’s not going to solve the problem if we just throw money at it.
‘We need programs and resources to undo the psychological harm that has been done by being surrounded by hatred for centuries.’
The taskforce in California is made up of: Chair Kamilah Moore, Vice Chair Dr. Amos C. Brown, San Diego Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe, California State Senator Steven Bradford, Dr. Cheryl Grills, Lisa Holder, Donald K. Tamaki, Jovan Scott Lewis, and Reginald Jones Sawyer.
Moore has previously stated she plans to be as ‘radical as possible’ when it comes to deciding who will receive reparations and how much.
But local residents took aim at the taskforce during Friday’s heated meeting, with one man demanding Moore ‘step down and step aside,’ claiming she was not the right woman for the job.
One woman pointed out the taskforce had been put together by Governor Gavin Newsom, Senate President Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon – none of whom are black.
‘We don’t expect non-blacks to tell us how we going to get reparations – we’re going to mobilize it by ourselves. It’s power to the people.’
Another noted: ‘This is all political theatre and it needs to end.’
In California, white families are roughly six times wealthier than their black counterparts.
The taskforce is considering a model which would use the state’s racial wealth gap to measure how much descendants of slaves had lost.
Using this model, a conservative estimate would mean the state owed $636.7 billion.
Other strategies discussed were calculating damages related to specific injustices such as housing discrimination, mass incarceration and health harms.
The taskforce have until July 1 to publish its recommendations and outline exactly how the reparations will be made.
Members of the public were met with rapturous applause as they discussed the injustices faced by black Americans
The idea of handing out reparations to black citizens has become popular across America, with cities like Boston, Massachusetts implementing similar taskforces
A nine-member ‘Reparations Task Force’ was first set up in 2020 by California Governor Gavin Newsom, pictured, following nationwide protests for racial justice in the wake of the killing of George Floyd
The idea of giving reparations to black citizens has become popular across America, with cities including Boston, Massachusetts, St Paul, Minnesota, and St Louis, Missouri, as well as the California cities, San Francisco and Los Angeles, among those to have set up similar task forces.
Evanston, Illinois, in 2021 became the first US city to provide reparations to its Black residents, including giving housing grants.
More recently politicians in Shelby County, Memphis, voted to allocate $5 million funding to a feasibility study which will ‘establish, develop and implement reparations.’
Task force Chair Kamilah Moore has stated she plans to be as ‘radical as possible’ when it comes to deciding who will receive reparations and how much
California State Senator Steven Bradford (left) and Dr. Cheryl Grills (right) also appear on the taskforce
Cities including Boston, Massachusetts, St Paul, Minnesota, and St Louis, Missouri, as well as the California cities, San Francisco and Los Angeles, have also set up task forces and panels to hatch their own reparations plans.
