California Considers Reparations For Slavery

SACRAMENTO, CA — Following the latest shooting of a Black man by police, legislators in the Golden State are assembling a task force to analyze and make recommendations for reparations to Black Americans, focusing on descendants of slaves, The Associated Press reported Sunday.

The California Senate agreed to create a nine-member commission on a bipartisan 33-3 vote Saturday. The measure will return to the Assembly for a final vote before lawmakers adjourn for the year Monday, the AP reported.

Though an earlier version of the bill was approved by assembly members by a landslide.

The task force would begin meetings no later than June 2021 and could also recommend other forms of rehabilitation or redress.

Since the death of George Floyd in May, the nation has been swept by an upwelling of social justice protests and activists supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

The most recent known related shooting sent a Black man, Jacob Blake, to the hospital Aug. 23 after he was shot in the back by police. Blake's sons watched from their father's vehicle as an officer fired rounds at Blake.

The incident sent activists flooding back into the streets over the past week to demand an end to police brutality. Over the weekend, lawmakers stepped in too.

“Let’s be clear: Chattel slavery, both in California and across our nation, birthed a legacy of racial harm and inequity that continues to impact the conditions of Black life in California,” Democratic Sen. Holly Mitchell of Los Angeles said, according to the AP.

Mitchel further addressed disproportionate levels of homelessness, unemployment, involvement in the criminal justice system, lower educational performance and elevated health risks during the coronavirus pandemic.

Although California was a free state before the Civil War, Mitchel listed legal and judicial steps state officials took back then to support slavery institution in Southern states while repressing Blacks in California.

In the last two years, Texas, New York and Vermont have also reviewed similar legislation, according to a legislative analysis conducted by the AP. Reparations could bring housing assistance, lower tuition, forgiving student loans, job training, community investments or monetary support.

Sen. Steven Bradford, a Democrat from Gardena, was in support of the bill but said he wished it was more than a study, the AP reported.

“If the 40 acres and a mule that was promised to free slaves were delivered to the descendants of those slaves today, we would all be billionaires,” Bradford said, according to the AP. “I hear far too many people say, ‘Well, I didn’t own slaves, that was so long ago.’ Well, you inherit wealth — you can inherit the debt that you owe to African-Americans.”

Read the full story by the Associated Press here.