A California lawmaker is warning black residents of the state to temper their expectations after a Gov. Gavin Newsom-appointed reparations board recommended payments of up to $1.2 million.
California Democratic state Sen. Steven Bradford warned blacks not to get their “hopes up” that they were going to receive checks that large, Fox News reported.
The state lawmaker, who was a member of the task force, suggested that it could be possible for black residents to receive cash payments “if the money’s there,” but he emphasized that the notion of receiving million-dollar checks as reparations for historical discrimination is “not happening.”
The reparations panel convened a public meeting in Oakland, California, on Saturday and conducted a vote on the conclusive set of recommendations to be forwarded to the state’s legislators. Alongside the payments, the panel of nine members suggested that the state issue an official apology to black residents.
“Reparations are not only morally justifiable, but they have the potential to address long-standing racial disparities and inequalities,” said U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., who was at the meeting.
Bradford, however, told black residents not to anticipate large payments because it wasn’t even clear yet where the money would come from. Not only that, but Newsom (D) announced this week that California was facing a massive $32 billion budget deficit.
The state lawmaker from Los Angeles did say that “anything’s possible if the money’s there,” but went on to say he will remain “realistic” about what actual payments may be, the Associated Press reported.
Black residents should adopt the same outlook: “I don’t want to set folks’ expectations and hopes up that they’re going to be getting, you know, seven-figure checks. That’s just not happening.”
Needless to say, that did not sit well with reparations advocates like Marcus Champion, who responded: “That is not the way you come to the table to pay a historic debt. That is not the way that you come to the table in any type of negotiation. Start as high as you possibly can, and then work from there.”
But L.A. Democratic Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer took Bradford’s side, arguing, “We have absolutely no idea right now what will or will not be approved” by the state legislature.
Initial estimates projected that the cost of reparations could potentially reach as high as $800 billion, whereas California’s annual state budget amounts to approximately $300 billion.
