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California reparations task force approves proposal of up to $1.2M for every black resident, but activists want more

Many complained that the estimates were 'nowhere near enough' and demanded a whopping $200 million in direct cash payments instead

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: The controversial reparations task force in California has reportedly approved recommendations to give Black residents as much as $1.2 million each as compensation for slavery and discrimination. The nine-member panel voted Saturday, May 6, to approve proposals on how the state and repay and apologize for generations of racism and discrimination caused by its policies.

If the recommendations are forged into law, a Black resident in California who has lived in the state their entire life until the age of 71 will be entitled to receive more than $ 1.2 million in compensation. However, activists who attended the official meeting in Oakland expressed dissatisfaction at the estimated costs of reparations, saying they were "nowhere near enough" and demanded a whopping $200 million in direct cash payments instead.

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It's worth noting that California is the first state to form a reparations task force. The panel was established in September 2020 in the wake of nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. The committee's final report, which is due to be sent to lawmakers before July 1, will forecast compensation estimates reportedly calculated by a group of economists they are working with. While the exact amount these reparations would cost taxpayers wasn't outlined in the report, prior calculations from economists predicted it could cross $800 billion, which is more than twice the state's approximate $300 billion annual budget.

The report recommends that the amounts have been calculated based on what has been lost to specific types of racial discrimination and should be paid back to Black residents. This reportedly includes $2,352 lost per person per year for the over-policing and mass incarceration of Black communities and $3,366 per person per year of residence between 1933 and 1977 for "discriminatory lending and zoning." The final figure would also include $13,619 per person per year of residence in California for "injustices and discrimination in health" and $77,000 per person for Black-owned business losses and devaluations. This means a Black resident who has lived in California until the age of 71 could receive over  $1.2 million in compensation, according to the Daily Mail. 

However, the residents and activists gathered at the meeting on Saturday were not impressed with the calculations. Reverend Tony Pierce slammed the recommendations and cited the US' "broken promise" to offer 40 acres and a mule to newly freed slaves. "You know that the numbers should be equivocal to what an acre was back then," he began. "We were given 40, OK? We were given 40 acres. You know what that number is. You keep trying to talk about now, yet you research back to slavery and you say nothing about slavery, nothing. So, the equivocal number from the 1860s for 40 acres to today is $200 million for each and every African-American." Pierce then put the panel on blast for not being ambitious enough with its plan. "You're not supposed to be afraid," he said. "You're just supposed to tell the truth. You're not supposed to be the gatekeepers. You're supposed to say what the people want and hear from the people," he added.

One woman at the meeting declared, "$1.2 million is nowhere near enough. It should be starting at least $5 million like San Francisco. We want direct cash payments just like how the stimulus [checks] were sent out. It's our inheritance, and we can handle it." Another resident complained, "This million dollars we're hearing on the news is just inadequate and a further injustice if that's what this task force is going to recommend for Black Americans for 400-plus years and continuing of slavery and injustice that we have been forced to endure. To even throw a million dollars at us is just an injustice." Meanwhile, former Black Panther Party chairwoman Elaine Brown urged the public to take to the streets and express their frustrations.

According to the report, the figures are just estimates and lawmakers would have to conduct their own research to work out the specifics. Members of the task force recommended direct payments for those eligible in the report. "The initial down payment is the beginning of a process of addressing historical injustices not the end of it," the document read. The panel also demanded cash "down payments" as soon as any recommendations are signed into law while lawmakers calculate the exact amount of compensation they are entitled.

Constituting elected officials, academics, and lawyers, the task force decided on the eligibility criteria last year. They concluded that any descendant of enslaved African Americans or of a "free Black person living in the United States prior to the end of the 19th century" should be eligible for reparations. The committee suggested that if the legislation is passed, a state agency should be created to process claims and make payments while prioritizing elderly Black residents. It's worth noting that around 1.8 million people in California identify as Black or African American.