OAN Brooke Mallory
UPDATED 3:18 PM – Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Governor Gavin Newsom has declined to support the monetary payments that his reparations task committee suggested, which would have totaled up to $1.2 million for a single recipient.
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Newsom (D-Calif.) told the press that addressing the legacy of slavery “is about much more than cash payments.”
“The Reparations Task Force’s independent findings and recommendations are a milestone in our bipartisan effort to advance justice and promote healing. This has been an important process, and we should continue to work as a nation to reconcile our original sin of slavery and understand how that history has shaped our country,” Newsom said in a statement.
The task force’s work was praised by the Democrat governor, but he chose not to support any particular proposals, however, he did pledge to “advance systemic changes that ensure an inclusive and equitable future for all Californians.”
“Dealing with that legacy is about much more than cash payments. Many of the recommendations put forward by the Task Force are critical action items we’ve already been hard at work addressing: breaking down barriers to vote, bolstering resources to address hate, enacting sweeping law enforcement and justice reforms to build trust and safety, strengthening economic mobility — all while investing billions to root out disparities and improve equity in housing, education, healthcare, and well beyond. This work must continue,” the governor said.
“Following the Task Force’s submission of its final report this summer, I look forward to a continued partnership with the Legislature to advance systemic changes that ensure an inclusive and equitable future for all Californians,” he continued.
“This has been a fool’s errand from the start,” said James Gallagher, California Assembly Republican Leader.
In the task force’s suggestion, payments would be broken down by categories of prior discrimination. For example, from the early 1930s through the late 1970s, Black residents in California who were subject to redlining by banking institutions would receive $3,366 for each year they resided there, amounting to up to $148,099. Additionally, for every year that Black residents resided in California between 1970 and 2020, they could earn around $2,352 in compensation for having to endure over-policing and mass imprisonment. These payments could total to $115,260. If a Black Californian checked all the right boxes, the overall award could amount to $1.2 million.
The California Legislature will soon receive the task force’s altered recommendations and determine whether to implement them before sending them to Newsom to be signed into law. However, after the governor’s recent comments, it is not looking good for Black residents who were expecting to get cash reparations.
“Democrats have promised the world with this reparations task force, and now the massive taxpayer bill is coming due. Newsom has painted himself into a corner, and he’ll have to choose between signing off on a ridiculous policy that will bankrupt the state or admitting once and for all that this task force was nothing more than a political stunt,” Gallagher maintained .
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