San Francisco — The California Legislative Black Caucus issued reparations measures to execute the state's historic task force's recommendations. The plans involve compensation for Black-owned land but do not include direct monetary payments to descendants of enslaved Black people.
The plans would subsidize community-driven violence prevention, boost vocational technical education, and abolish occupational license costs for criminals. Another plan would fund life expectancy, educational, and poverty-reduction activities.
Some initiatives would require modifying the state constitution and may be opposed. The Democrat-controlled state Senate rejected a prohibition on involuntary servitude in 2022, and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has opposed prisoner solitary confinement.
At a Thursday press conference, State Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, said the Black caucus' priority list does not bar individual senators from sponsoring reparations legislation. He warned that the voyage will be long and hard but worthwhile.
Bradford, who participated on the nine-person reparations task committee, said, “This is a defining moment not only in California history, but in American history as well. Advocates are already criticizing the 14 recommendations for not going far enough.
An activist with the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California, which advocated for the reparations task group, said the plans are “not reparations.
“No unhoused descendant will be removed from that list of proposals. No descendant single mom in need will be aided, he declared. “No dime of the debt is being repaid.
California became a free state in 1850, but it legalized slavery and prevented Black people from owning property and starting companies. A breakthrough committee investigation found aggressive cops and contaminated black areas.
STAY TURNED FOR DEVELOPMENT