(Headline USA) A member of California’s reparations task force defended the group’s demands for hefty monetary payments to black residents, telling Californians they need to “chill out” and pay their “sin bill.”
“You cannot put a dollar sign on what has been done to black people,” Dr. Amos Brown, reverend of the Third Baptist Church and vice chair of California’s reparations task force, told Fox News. “Our sin bill in this nation has been so high, and because of the long years of doing nothing, the interest has grown.”
Last month, the reparations task force released its official recommendations, which include cash payments of up to $1.2 million per black person. Brown admitted that California might not be able to afford these payments, given its $32 billion budget deficit.
“All we did was evaluate the harm and state the case of what it might mean in terms of dollars and cents,” Brown said. “But if you can’t pay all of that, say what you can pay. That’s the point.”
California legislators should at least agree to pay the amount in installments, Brown argued.
“They ought to say, ‘this is what we can afford,’” Brown said. “And if we can’t pay it now, we do like the Germans did – pay for it over installments.”
He also blasted critics of the proposal and accused them of harboring racist feelings.
“All we’re saying is let’s just chill out and pay your debt – your sin bill of enslavement. Of discrimination. Of intimidation. Of terrorizing black people,” Brown said.
Opposition to reparations is really just “about being mean to black people,” Brown continued.
“Those who say, ‘Oh, no, It’s too much. You don’t deserve.’ They are not showing that they have a heart,” he said. “They are hard-hearted.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has declined to officially endorse the task force’s recommendations, but Brown said he is hopeful Newsom and state legislators will reach an agreement.
“The ball is in their court. We have done our work,” he said.
