California reparations task force under pressure to follow San Francisco’s $5 million example

The California Reparations Task Force has yet to determine the amount for the state’s descendants of slavery, but San Francisco’s proposal to enrich each black resident by $5 million has raised the bar.

The state select committee’s two-day hearing was under pressure Saturday as multiple speakers applauded the San Francisco Reparations Commission’s draft. Provides a guaranteed annual income and covers personal and educational debt.

“San Francisco — $5 million per descendant. That’s what we should follow. Let’s start with $5 million per descendant of eligible chattel slaves,” said hip-hop fraternity’s Truth Bay at Friday’s in San Diego. told the panel in public comment.

Kash Gaines supported the $5 million lump sum and the proposed 250-year guarantee of $97,000 annual income, but suggested that the term should be doubled to 500 years.

“At the moment, science fiction is ahead of its time,” says Gaines. “I think we should use their numbers and the recommendations of the entire task force.”

In fact, the states look practically solid by comparison. The only figures released by a state task force came last month with an estimate that housing discrimination cost black Californians $569 billion from 1933 to 1977, or $223,000 per person.

Activist Reverend Tony Pierce made it clear in public comments that the low six figures would not cut it, stating, “$200,000 isn’t enough! $223,000 isn’t enough!”

The two-day meeting at San Diego State University was the first state commission since the San Francisco draft made headlines, highlighting California as the epicenter of national reparations despite not being a slave state. It was on the rise.

The comments also illustrate the difficulty Golden State local governments have in curbing public expectations as they develop their own reparations plans.

State task force member Jovan Ruiz emphasized that the commission is still working with economists to provide accurate financial estimates of the legacy of slavery.

Lewis, associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said: “We’re not doing that. We’re literally having that conversation right now because once we get the numbers back from the economics experts, we’ll be able to present those numbers to you on our authority. .”

Cities in California such as San Francisco, Berkeley, and Sacramento are jumping on the reparations bandwagon, but the San Francisco Commission is getting a lot of attention.

Brittni Chiquata, director of economic rights at the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, told the state task force that her office had launched a media “misinformation campaign” over the December reparations report, which contained more than 100 recommendations. He said he was fighting.

“Despite the 111 recommendations, the one lewd recommendation that really drew a mix of love and hate in the last two weeks was a $5 million recommendation to select eligible residents.” she said.

About 45,000 black people live in San Francisco. If they all qualify for compensation, the lump sum alone would cost the city $225 billion. The local government budget for fiscal 2022-23 was $14 billion.

Chiquata explained that it is a work in progress on a draft that needs to be approved by the oversight board.

“Recommendations are limited to this one, unlimited cash disbursement to 45,000 black people living in San Francisco,” she said. We are reorganizing and updating both of our recommendations. Everything at this point is just suggestions. Nothing is written in stone.”

A state task force resolved the eligibility issue last year, and in March voted to limit reparations payments to black Californians descended from enslaved or free blacks who lived in the United States by the end of the 19th century.

Although California was a free state, “early state governments favored slavery,” and an estimated 1,500 slaves lived there in 1852, according to an interim task force report released in June. I was there.

Additionally, the report says the state discriminates in housing, education, employment, incarceration, child welfare and other areas, creating a “wealth gap.”

Speakers at the two-day hearings covered much more than cash and debt relief, including free education, free health care, free travel, property grants, prison closures and crackdowns on police misconduct. made a proposal.

Henry Wallace, the original Black Panther chairman, said, “We are committed to free health care, free psychological care based on the damage done by systemic racism, and to how our labor has historically changed.” We need free land because it was low ball and free.” Party San Diego. “We feel this state and country needs to give us land. And a free education based on the standards of the Black Panther Party.”

State task forces must submit their final reports to the General Assembly by 1 June. The Reparations Commission was enacted in September 2020 through Congressional Bill 3121 passed and signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

In public comments on Saturday, frequent Democratic primary candidate Morris Griffin said a generous compensation package would boost Newsom, who is often mentioned as a potential candidate for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination. suggested that it would

“If you give us or give us compensation until the day we die, if you give us $5,000 to $10,000 tax-free, make sure we spread what we hear. Never look back when you end up running for president,” Griffin said.

He and others at the conference predicted that more jurisdictions would follow California’s lead.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who drafted the 2020 bill, said, “Wherever you go, people are working on this problem, not waiting for Washington.” Even here in San Diego, our foundation is discussing ways to increase home ownership among African-Americans in San Diego.

The task force’s next hearing is scheduled for March 3-4 in Sacramento.