California has started the long and tedious process of reparations! Each state must reenact this same process. It’s time for Black Leaders, (all those whom consider themselves ones), to Step Up and Follow Suit!
State of California could owe Each Black Californian hundreds of thousands of dollars. Almost exactly $233,000 for each Black born in California, that is a documented descendant of an enslaved ancestor.
California’s first-in-the-nation task force to identify reparations said business loans, housing grants, tuition, wage and job protections could provide redress for African Americans.
“We Demand Reparations!”As Quoted by Descendants of Slavery
Their recommendations aim to not only address specific instances of violence or prior harm, but also to support future generations of Black Californians.
The proposed Office of Freedmen Education and Social Services would offer free tuition for Black students in private K-12 education and those pursuing higher education in the state. It would also ensure that school curricula reflect a more “expansive discussion of the experiences of Black Americans in a way that is accurate and honest,” the report said.
The task force also proposed raising the minimum wage, requiring health benefits and paid time off, and other workplace protections for workers in agriculture, hospitality, food and domestic industries where there were large numbers of Black workers but fewer worker protections, the report said.
Black Californians seeking reparations would be able to file a claim through the Reparations Tribunal/ Redress Administration, the proposed arm of the reparations process that would accept or deny a request.
A National Example
“Without a remedy specifically targeted to heal the injuries that colonial and American governments have inflicted on 16 generations of Black Americans and dismantle the foundations of these systems,” the report reads, “the ‘badges and incidents of slavery’ will continue to harm Black Americans in almost all aspects of American life.”
Kamilah Moore, chairperson of the task force, said its report is the first government publication providing remedies to institutional racism against Black people since the 1968 Kerner Commission, a federal study requested by President Lyndon Johnson.
“This report is extremely timely and urgent. I hope that people use this not only as an educational tool, but as an organizing tool,” Moore said.
“It is not only useful for people living in California, but for community members, constituents and organizers throughout the United States … to champion the causes of the African American community wherever they are.”
In March the task force voted that African Americans who are direct descendants of enslaved or freed Black people living in the US before the end of the 19th century would be eligible for reparations.
The task force is the only statewide initiative examining reparations. Cities such as Asheville, North Carolina and Evanston, Illinois have initiated reparations schemes at the local level, but at the federal level, HR 40, a bill that would commission a study on reparations, remains stalled in Congress.
A Few Things on the List, and it’s More Than Just Money!
1. BAR TRAFFIC STOPS FOR LOW LEVEL TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS
2. ABOLISH CASH BAIL
3. RESTORE VOTING RIGHTS FOR ALL INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS
The 500-page study describes decades of state and federal government actions that harmed Black Americans — from American slavery to the more recent redlining, mass incarceration, police actions and the widening wealth gap between Blacks and whites.
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