Some reparations advocates said that approach does not take into account the harms that Black immigrants suffer. The state panel made the controversial decision in March to limit reparations to descendants of Black people who were in the country in the 19th century.

At that point it will be up to lawmakers to draft and pass legislation. The committee continues to deliberate recommendations, including monetary compensation, and its report is due to the Legislature on July 1. Gavin Newsom approved a statewide task force amid national turmoil after a white Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, a Black man. The board created the 15-member reparations committee in late 2020, months after California Gov. “It seems ridiculous, and it also seems that this is the one city where it could possibly pass.” They just threw a number up, there’s no analysis,” Dennis said. “This conversation we’re having in San Francisco is completely unserious. He doesn’t consider the board’s discussion of $5 million payments to be one. John Dennis, chair of the San Francisco Republican Party, does not support reparations although he says he’d support a serious conversation on the topic. “If you’re going to try to say you’re sorry, you have to speak in the language that people understand, and money is that language,” he said. Justin Hansford, a professor at Howard University School of Law, says no municipal reparations plan will have enough money to right the wrongs of slavery, but he appreciates any attempts to “genuinely, legitimately, authentically” make things right. slavery officially ended in 1865, government policies and practices worked to imprison Black people at higher rates, deny access to home and business loans and restrict where they could work and live. Opponents generally say taxpayers who were never slave owners should not have to pay money to people who were not enslaved.Īdvocates say that view ignores a wealth of data and historical evidence showing that long after U.S. Possible criteria include having lived in the city during certain time periods and descending from someone “incarcerated for the failed War on Drugs.”Ĭritics say the payouts make no sense in a state and city that never enslaved Black people. The Fillmore District once thrived with Black-owned night clubs and shops until government redevelopment in the 1960s forced out residents.įewer than 50,000 Black people still live in the city, and it’s not clear how many would be eligible. In San Francisco, Black residents once made up more than 13% of the city’s population, but more than 50 years later, they account for less than 6% of the city’s residents - and 38% of its homeless population. The idea has not been taken up at the federal level. In 2020, California became the first state to form a reparations task force and is still struggling to put a price tag on what is owed. The idea of paying compensation for slavery has gained traction across cities and universities. “What we are asking for and what we’re demanding for is a real commitment to what we need to move things forward.” “I don’t need to impress upon you the fact that we are setting a national precedent here in San Francisco,” Hollins said. Tinisch Hollins, vice-chair of the African American Reparations Advisory Committee, alluded to those comments, and several people who lined up to speak reminded the board they would be watching closely what the supervisors do next. Some supervisors have said previously that the city can’t afford any major reparations payments right now given its deep deficit amid a tech industry downturn. Tuesday’s unanimous expressions of support for reparations by the board do not mean all the recommendations will ultimately be adopted, as the body can vote to approve, reject or change any or all of them. An estimate from Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, which leans conservative, has said it would cost each non-Black family in the city at least $600,000. The committee hasn’t done an analysis of the cost of the proposals, but critics have slammed the plan as financially and politically impossible. The draft reparations plan, released in December, is unmatched nationwide in its specificity and breadth.

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