The San Francisco reparations committee drafted a proposal that would give black longtime residents be given $5 million and debt forgiveness due to the city’s history of “systemic repression.The San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee’s report states that “the public policies explicitly created to subjugate Black people in San Francisco by upholding and expanding the intent and legacy of chattel slavery,” despite California always having been a free state.
“While neither San Francisco, nor California, formally adopted the institution of chattel slavery, the tenets of segregation, white supremacy and systematic repression and exclusion of Black people were codified through legal and extralegal actions, social codes, and judicial enforcement,” the draft continues.
The specific actions listed include providing a “one-time, lump sum payment of $5 million to each eligible person, reports Fox News.
“A lump sum payment would compensate the affected population for the decades of harms that they have experienced, and will redress the economic and opportunity losses that Black San Franciscans have endured, collectively, as the result of both intentional decisions and unintended harms perpetuated by City policy.”
The draft also states that African-Americans should have their income supplemented to reflect the Area Median Income ($97,000) annually for at least the next 250 years.
“Racial disparities across all metrics have led to a significant racial wealth gap in the City of San Francisco. By elevating income to match AMI, Black people can better afford housing and achieve a better quality of life,” the draft reads.
The draft also reads that a “spectrum of financial education, from beginning to advanced” should be provided.
“While traditional financial education emphasizes basic financial literacy, there is a need to provide a ‘ladder’ of financial education that encompasses all levels of financial knowledge so
that resources match the broad spectrum of financial levels that exist throughout the community,” they write.
One must also be:
•Born in San Francisco between 1940 and 1996 and has proof of residency in San Francisco for at least 13 years
•Migrated to San Francisco between 1940 and 1996 and has proof of residency in San Francisco for at least 13 years
• Personally, or the direct descendant of someone, incarcerated by the failed War on Drugs
Record of attendance in San Francisco public schools during the time of the consent decree to complete desegregation within the school system
Among other criteria.
