Comedy actor Faizon Love has lashed out at the notion that black people in California will be given $223,000 in reparations, saying that the money will only be used to purchase luxury cars.
Love, 54, made the eye-opening response in an interview with YouTube channel Vlad TV about his feelings on the aforementioned figure being reported amid the ongoing debate over reparations for slavery in the Golden State.
The Meteor Man star said: ‘F*** that. That’s another trick man, because that money’s gonna go right back to Cadillac and right back to [Mercedes] Benz.’
The chair of the task force handling the reparations issue, Kamilah V. Moore, said in an interview Tuesday that the $223,000 figure being reported was not simply the amount of money that would be handed out but represented the state of California’s ‘maximum culpability’ per person.
She also said that reparations only apply to any persons who faced housing discrimination between 1933-1972, not just black people.
![In reference to black people receiving $223,000, actor Faizon Love said: ''F*** that. That's another trick man, because that money's gonna go right back to Cadillac and right back to [Mercedes] Benz.'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/12/17/01/65674135-11548119-image-m-10_1671239213990.jpg)
In reference to black people receiving $223,000, actor Faizon Love said: ”F*** that. That’s another trick man, because that money’s gonna go right back to Cadillac and right back to [Mercedes] Benz.’
In his interview, Love went on to offer an alternative to monetary reparations suggesting that black people should be tax exempt for life. The Cuban-born actor referred to slaves being treated as ‘tax write-offs’ during the Civil War.
He also brought up the fact that the federal income tax was initiated by the US government in order to pay for the Civil War.
The financial requirements of the war saw Congress place a flat three percent tax on all incomes over $800. Following the end of the war, the original law was repealed and not formally replaced until the 1913 Federal Income Tax act.
Love is known for his controversial remarks, in 2014 and 2015 he was criticized for his wide-ranging support of Bill Cosby in the wake of the dozens of sexual assault allegations levied at the elderly comedian.
In one tweet, Love referred to black people who believe the accusations as ‘spineless monkeys.’
In his interview, Love went on to offer an alternative to monetary reparations suggesting that black people should be tax exempt
Kamilah Moore, the chair of the task force on reparations, said in an interview on Tuesday that the maximum payment only applies to those impacted by housing discrimination in California between 1933 and 1977
During this week’s public hearings on reparation in Oakland’s City Hall, the notion of tax exempt status was brought up.
Carol Williams said that she lived through homelessness since moving to the Golden State in 1985 from Memphis and stated her belief that all reparations should be tax free.
She said: ‘I consider myself a foundational black American. he reparation should be tax free, so that when we get the money the IRS won’t come after us.
‘And I’m pleading and I’m asking that when we make the decision of lineage, we save those who have been in California since 2000.’
Deon Jenkins, shown here, ran for president in 2016 and 2020 and ran for the US Senate in California in 2022, gaining less than 7,000 votes
While an activist who spoke at the hearings, Deon Jenkins, said that money given to black people in the California should be in-line with the average price of a home in the state, around $800,000.
Following that appearance at the public hearing in Oakland’s City Hall on Wednesday, Jenkins, who refers to himself as a ‘hip hop organizer’ said in an interview: ‘Either they’re going to comply or it’s going to be a serious backlash.’
Since 2021, the first of its kind in the nation Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans has been delving into history and studies to make its case for reparations to California descendants of enslaved Black people. The group has until July 1 before they have to make a decision on reparations.
Max Fennell and fellow activist Jenkins pictured after the meeting, Jenkins asked for reparations in the amount of $800,000 to be handed out
Jenkins ran for president in 2016 and 2020 and ran for the US Senate in California in 2022, gaining less than 7,000 votes. On his official website, Jenkins calls himself as ‘grassroots hip hop organizer.’
In his speech before the task force, Jenkins also said: ‘Defense, money, land, grants.
‘Four elements of every society, every nation – a defensive structure, economy, land and having access to that economy.’
He continued: ‘If that is not being addressed reparations will not hold. Reparations – repair is the root word, we cannot have repair if those elements are not addressed.’
Also speaking on Thursday, was Rev. Tony Pierce of the Black Wall Street Project who shouted as his time for speaking ran out: ‘$230,000 is not enough!’
At Wednesday’s hearing, 35-year-old entrepreneur and the first black professional tri-athlete, Max Fennell who said that every person should get $350,000 in compensation to close the racial wealth gap and Black-owned businesses should receive $250,000, which would help them to flourish.
Fennell added: ‘It’s a debt that’s owed, we worked for free,’ he said. ‘We’re not asking; we’re telling you.’
He concluded his remarks by saying: ‘The tangibles of what I’m asking for is $350,000 per black American in California that’s tangible, small business grant $250,000 and land 15-20 acres.’
Fennell posted a video on Instagram showing him at the hearings, with around 60 others, alongside the caption: ‘Witnessing history with the tribe.’
The meeting attracted a paltry crowd of activists at Oakland’s City Hall on Wednesday
Meanwhile, Demnlus Johnson III, a Richmond City Council member, said it’s remarkable that the issue is even being talked about publicly.
‘You have to name a problem in order to address it,’ he said.
‘Of course we want to see it addressed now, the urgency is now, but just having it all aired out and put on the line is a major feat.’
Councilmember Carroll Fife of Oakland pointed out the problems of homelessness in California.
Fife said: ‘Homelessness is off the charts in California. And that’s part because there have been populations, particular black Americans, who have barred from access to housing.’
Members of the committee will make preliminary policy recommendations, such as audits of government agencies that deal with child welfare and incarceration with the aim of reducing disparities in how Black people are treated.
The group discussed how the state may address its impact on Black families whose property was seized through eminent domain. The topic garnered renewed attention after lawmakers last year voted to return a beachfront property known as Bruce’s Beach to descendants of the Black residents who owned it until it was taken in the 20th century.
Former Democratic congressional candidate Morris Griffin holds up a sign during the meeting
Officials from Oakland, Sacramento, Los Angeles and other California cities spoke about local reparations efforts.
That included Khansa T. Jones-Muhammad, vice-chair of Los Angeles’ Reparations Advisory Commission, created last year under then-Mayor Eric Garcetti. The goal of the commission is to advise the city on a pilot program for distributing reparations to a group of Black residents, but it doesn’t have a timeline set in stone for finishing its work.
In September, economists started listing preliminary estimates for what could be owed by the state as a result of discriminatory policies. But they said they need more data to come up with more complete figures.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a former assemblywoman, authored the bill that created the state’s task force, and the group began its work last year.
The bill was signed into law in September 2020 after a summer of nationwide protests against racism and police brutality following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in Minnesota.
In June, the task force released a 500-page report describing discriminatory policies that drove housing segregation, criminal justice disparities and other realities that harmed Black Californians in the decades since the abolition of slavery.
