(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) A reparations task force launched by California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom has concluded that descendants of slaves in the state could be compensated $223,200 each, a staggering amount that would climb upwards of $569 billion.
The nine-member committee, which has been meeting for nearly two years, estimated that’s how much would be needed to compensate for “housing discrimination” that impacted 2.5 million black Californians between 1933 and 1977, according to the Daily Mail.
The suggested reparations settlement is still being discussed, and a final recommendation isn’t due until next June to be presented to the state’s far-leftist legislature for consideration.
The task force is still considering how reparation payments should be made, with some arguing for a system that funnels the money through tuition and housing grants. Others want cold, hard cash. And apparently, they want it as soon as possible.
“We’ve been waiting for 400 years. We do not need an extension,” a protestor proclaimed during a September meeting to debate whether the committee should be given more time to complete its work, reported CalMatters. Newsom vetoed a bill that would have extended the task force’s timeline to 2024.
The committee, which has been holding meetings across the state to gain insight to the alleged long-term impacts of slavery and systemic racism, concluded that “housing discrimination” had occurred when the state used eminent domain to raze black neighborhoods to clear the way for infrastructure improvements and other development.
Along with “housing discrimination,” the reparations task force is studying the impacts, and possible compensation due, from mass incarceration, unjust property seizures, the devaluation of black businesses and health care.
The committee’s recommendations “aim to not only address specific instances of violence or prior harm, but also to support future generations of Black Californians,” CalMatters reported. Examples cited by the task force include free tuition for black students in private schools “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 committee’s report recommended.
