Black California Lawmakers Propose 14 Reparations Bills

Gov. Jerry Brown speaks in the Assembly Chambers at the State Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., January 18, 2012.

A group of black California lawmakers proposed 14 reparations bills Wednesday as the first step in a multi-year effort to get the state to make amends for the historical wrongs of slavery.

The legislative package introduced by the California Legislative Black Caucus seeks a formal apology for slavery and other violations of human rights from the state’s leaders, among other forms of restitution. Other proposed items include the restoration of property taken in race-based cases of eminent domain and the prohibition of involuntary servitude for the incarcerated.

None of the 14 bills include cash reparations, which has become a controversial topic in recent years after such programs have already been established.

In 2019, Evanston, Ill., became the first U.S. city to pass a law requiring cash reparations for its black residents. Since then, reparations commissions in Illinois and New York have been created to weigh possible racial reparations.

“While many only associate direct cash payments with reparations, the true meaning of the word, to repair, involves much more,” Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, chairwoman of the California Legislative Black Caucus, said when announcing the 14 measures in late January.

“This year’s legislative package tackles a wide range of issues; from criminal justice reforms to property rights to education, civil rights and food justice,” Wilson added. “The Caucus is looking to make strides in the second half of this legislative session as we build towards righting the wrongs of California’s past in future sessions.”

The remaining measures include the following: expanding access to career and technical education; adding career-education financial aid; funding programs to help increase the life expectancy of specific groups, improving their educational outcomes, and bringing them out of poverty; formally accepting responsibility for any state representative who promoted or engaged in chattel slavery; prohibiting discrimination on hairstyles in all sports; eliminating the practice of banning books without oversight and review; funding solutions to decrease violence in African-American communities; restricting solitary confinement within detention facilities; making medically supportive food and nutrition interventions a part of Medi-Cal benefits; addressing food injustice by requiring advance notice of a grocery store’s closure; and eliminating barriers for people with criminal records to obtain business licenses and to prioritize African-American applicants seeking occupational licenses.

In 2020, California became the first state to create a reparations task force for the sole purpose of recommending legislation in this area. All 14 bills are a product of the reparations task force’s 1,100-page report from June.

Last week, San Francisco considered a separate reparations resolution and formal apology to the city’s black community. This came after a city advisory task force recommended that San Francisco pay $5 million in reparations to each longtime black resident.

Mayor London Breed, however, opposes the costly reparations payments that could cost the city well over $100 billion. In December, Breed proposed eliminating the city’s reparations office from its budget as part of a $75 million budget cut to reduce the city’s deficit.

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