California’s Reparations Task Force has approved recommendations that could give black residents $1.2 million each in compensation for slavery and discrimination.
The nine-member committee voted on Saturday to accept proposals on how the state can compensate for and excuse harm caused by discriminatory policies.
A California resident who lived in the state all his life up to the age of 71 could receive more than $1.2 million in compensation if the recommendations are enshrined in law.
But residents attending the official meeting in Oakland lashed out at the estimated cost of reparations, which some believe is “far from enough,” calling instead for $200 million in direct cash payments to individuals.
California became the first state to form a redress task force in September 2020 following national protests over the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer.
California’s Reparations Task Force has approved recommendations that could give black residents $1.2 million each in compensation for slavery and discrimination
Residents, including Reverend Tony Pierce, believe it’s “not nearly enough” and have called for $200 million, as some called it “further injustice” and others called for direct cash payments
Its final report is due to be sent to lawmakers before July 1, where it will forecast estimates of compensation calculated by several economists the group works with.
The amount those reparations would cost the state wasn’t specified in the report, but previous calculations by economists predicted they could cost around $800 billion — more than double California’s roughly $300 billion annual budget.
The amounts lost due to certain types of racial discrimination and suggest those amounts should be returned to black residents, according to the report.
This includes $2,352 lost per person per year to excessive surveillance and mass incarceration of black communities and $3,366 per person per year of residence between 1933 and 1977 for “discriminatory lending and zoning.”
And $13,619 per person per year of residence in California for “health care injustices and discrimination” and $77,000 per person for black-owned business losses and devaluations are included in the number.
That means a lifelong black California resident aged at least 71 could receive more than $1.2 million in compensation.
But the 100 local residents and activists who gathered for the meeting were not impressed by the calculations in the report.
Rev. Tony Pierce vented his frustration, citing the country’s “broken promise” to offer newly freed slaves 40 acres and a mule.
He said: “You know the numbers should be ambiguous about what a morning was back then. We got 40, okay? We were given 40 hectares.
“You know what that number is. You keep trying to talk about the now but research back to slavery and say nothing about slavery, nothing.
“So the ambiguous number from the 1860s for 40 acres to today is $200 million for every single African American.”
He then lashed out at the panel for not being ambitious enough with the reparations plan.
“Don’t be afraid,” he added. “You should just tell the truth. They shouldn’t be the gatekeepers. You’re supposed to say what the people want and hear from the people.’
Rev. Tony Pierce vented his frustration, citing the country’s “broken promise” to offer newly freed slaves 40 acres and a mule
He suggested to the panel that the reparations plan was not ambitious enough
Assembly member Reggie Jones-Sawyer (left), who sits on the panel, said the recommendation of a California state apology was one of the most important. State Senator Steven Bradford is pictured at right
While one woman said, “$1.2 million isn’t nearly enough. Like San Francisco, it should cost at least $5 million.
“We want direct cash payments, just like the stimulus [checks] were sent out. It is our heritage and we can deal with it.”
And another resident added: “This million dollars we’re hearing on the news is simply insufficient and yet another injustice when this task force has been doing this to black Americans for over 400 years and the continuation of the slavery and injustice that we have.” , recommend is been forced to endure.
“Throwing even a million dollars at us is just an injustice.”
And Elaine Brown, former leader of the Black Panther Party, urged people to express their frustration through demonstrations.
The report insisted the numbers were only estimates and that lawmakers would need to do additional research to work out the details.
Panel members recommended direct payments for beneficiaries in the report.
“The initial down payment is the beginning of a process to address historical injustices, not the end,” it said.
The reparations task force has also asked that those who are entitled to cash payments be given “down payments” once recommendations are turned into law while they await the calculation of the compensation to which they are entitled.
The task force, consisting of elected officials, scientists and lawyers, decided on the funding criteria last year.
It stipulated that any descendant of enslaved African Americans or a “free black person who lived in the United States before the late 19th century” should be entitled to reparations.
If legislation for the payments is passed, the committee proposed setting up a stage agency to process claims and make payments, with priority given to older black residents.
About 1.8 million people in California identify as Black or African American.
Cheryl Grills, a member of the task force, said the actual amount the state is paying out is the “least important” aspect of the program
Kamilah Moore, a reparations justice scholar and attorney, chaired the task force and previously said she plans to be as “radical as possible” when it comes to deciding who gets reparations and how much
The final report is due to be sent to lawmakers before July 1, where it will forecast compensation estimates calculated by several economists the group works with
When voting on its final report, the panel also recommended that state legislators formally apologize to black residents.
A preliminary report released last year highlighted how enslaved blacks were sent to California during the gold rush era.
And in the 1950s and ’60s, racially restrictive covenants and redlining separated them in many of California’s largest cities.
One point of confusion in the reparations discourse has been whether the amount recommended by the task force will be a verbatim proposal to the Legislature or rather a broader estimate of the losses Black people have suffered from decades of inequality.
“We want to make sure this is presented in a way that doesn’t reinforce preoccupation with a dollar number, which is the least important piece of it,” Cheryl Grills, a member of the state task force, previously told CalMatters.
“It’s important, but it’s least important to get to a point in our country’s history and in California’s history where we recognize that the damage is multi-sectoral and multi-sectoral and that repair must be aligned with that.” .
“It’s a shame. I’m actually sad to see that our news media isn’t able to nuance any better. It’s almost like ‘what’s going to be sensational’ versus what’s important,” she said.
But during a task force meeting in March, Senator Steven Bradford said it would be an “uphill battle” to get the legislature to pass recommendations.
Kamilah Moore, a reparations justice scholar and attorney, chaired the task force and previously said she plans to be as “radical as possible” when it comes to deciding who gets reparations and how much.