The California Reparations Task Force has recommended that the state provide payments of up to $1.2 million to eligible black residents, Fox News reported on Sunday.
The task force approved the final set of recommendations at a public meeting held in Oakland on Saturday, and has called on the state’s legislators to issue a formal apology along with the payments. The nine-member panel made the proposal as part of an effort to address the historical injustices and economic disparities experienced by black Californians, though historically, the reparations movement in the U.S. has centered on the issue of slavery.
California was never a slave state.
“Reparations are not only morally justifiable, but they have the potential to address long-standing racial disparities and inequalities,” Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., claimed after attending the meeting, the outlet reported further.
The recommendation proposes different payment amounts based on specific types of historical discrimination. For example, black residents who were affected by redlining by banks would receive up to $148,099, which amounts to $3,366 for each year they lived in California from the early 1930s to the late 1970s.
Conversely, black residents who have been allegedly been affected by over-policing and mass incarceration in California between 1970 and 2020 could be eligible for payments of around $2,352 for each year they lived in the state during that time period. The total amount of these payments could reach up to $115,260.
The New York Times analyzed the plan and found that a black Californian who has lived in the state their entire life and is 71 years old could receive up to $1.2 million from the various payments outlined, including those related to alleged discrimination such as redlining and over-policing.
“The panel’s Saturday vote included only recommendations for the state legislature and does not have any legal weight,” Fox News reported.
At Saturday’s meeting, some black residents expressed opposition, calling for larger payments. One activist who identified as Rev. Tony Pierce was one of the more vocal critics, referencing the “40 acres and a mule” promise made to former slaves when he spoke at the podium.
“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,” said Pierce. “So, the equivocal number from the 1860s for 40 acres to today is $200 million for each and every African American.”
The majority of attendees who spoke at Saturday’s meeting expressed their support for reparations. However, despite the agreement, the meeting was chaotic and emotionally charged, with arguments and interruptions from many attendees.
Some people spoke out of turn, prompting Kamilah Moore, the task force chair, to call for security to remove them multiple times, the report said.
“The draft recommendation noted that California entered the Union as a free state in 1850, but said that it did not pass laws at the time to guarantee freedom. The recommendation pointed out that for a decade after emancipation, California continued to allow the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, which called for the capture and return of runaway slaves,” Fox News noted.
