SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — It could cost California more than $800 billion to compensate Black residents for generations of over-policing, disproportionate incarceration and housing discrimination, economists have told a state panel considering reparations.
The preliminary estimate is more than 2.5 times California’s $300 billion annual budget, and does not include a recommended $1 million per older Black resident for health disparities that have shortened their average life span. Nor does the figure count compensating people for property unjustly taken by the government or devaluing Black businesses, two other harms the task force says the state perpetuated.
Black residents may not receive cash payments anytime soon, if ever, because the state may never adopt the economists’ calculations. The reparations task force is scheduled to discuss the numbers Wednesday and can vote to adopt the suggestions or come up with its own figures. The proposed number comes from a consulting team of five economists and policy experts.
“We’ve got to go in with an open mind and come up with some creative ways to deal with this,” said Assembly member Reggie Jones-Sawyer, one of two lawmakers on the task force responsible for mustering support from state legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom before any reparations could become reality.
In an interview prior to the meeting, Jones-Sawyer said he needed to consult budget analysts, other legislators and the governor’s office before deciding whether the scale of payments is feasible.
The estimates for policing and disproportionate incarceration and housing discrimination are not new. The figures came up in a September presentation as the consulting team sought guidance on whether to use a national or California-specific model to calculate damages.
But the task force must now settle on a cash amount as it nears a July 1 deadline to recommend to lawmakers how California can atone for its role in perpetuating racist systems that continue to undermine Black people.
For those who support reparations, the staggering $800 billion amount economists suggest underscores the long-lasting harm Black Americans have endured, even in a state that never officially endorsed slavery. Critics pin their opposition partly on the fact that California was never a slave state and say current taxpayers should not be responsible for damage linked to events that germinated hundreds of years ago.
Bob Woodson, a prominent Black conservative, calls reparations impractical, controversial and counterproductive.
“No amount of money could ever ‘make right’ the evil of slavery, and it is insulting to suggest that it could,” he said in an email to The Associated Press, adding that Black communities relied on faith and family to build thriving communities following slavery. “Some of these communities only began coming apart after we lost sight of these values, which also hold the key to these communities’ restoration.”
Task force recommendations are just the start because ultimate authority rests with the state Assembly, Senate and the governor.
“That’s going to be the real hurdle,” said Sen. Steven Bradford, who sits on the panel. “How do you compensate for hundreds of years of harm, even 150 years post-slavery?”
Financial redress is just one part of the package being considered. Other proposals include paying incarcerated inmates market value for their labor, establishing free wellness centers and planting more trees in Black communities, banning cash bail and adopting a K-12 Black studies curriculum.
Newsom signed legislation in 2020 creating the reparations task force after national protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police. While federal initiatives have stalled, cities, counties and other institutions have stepped in.
An advisory committee in San Francisco has recommended $5 million payouts, as well as guaranteed income of at least $97,000 and personal debt forgiveness for qualifying individuals. Supervisors expressed general support, but stopped short of endorsing specific proposals. They will take up the issue later this year.
The statewide estimate includes $246 billion to compensate eligible Black Californians whose neighborhoods were subjected to aggressive policing and prosecution of Black people in the “war on drugs” from 1970 to 2020. That would translate to nearly $125,000 for every person who qualifies.
The numbers are approximate, based on modeling and population estimates. The economists also included $569 billion to make up for the discriminatory practice of redlining in housing loans. Such compensation would amount to about $223,000 per eligible resident who lived in California from 1933 to 1977. The $569 billion is considered a maximum and assumes all 2.5 million people who identify as Black in California would be eligible.
But they won’t all be eligible. Monetary redress will be available to people who meet residency and other requirements. They must also be descendants of enslaved and freed Black people in the U.S. as of the 19th century, which leaves out Black immigrants.
In their report, the consultants suggest the state task force “err on the side of generosity” and consider a down-payment with more money to come as more evidence becomes available.
“It should be communicated to the public that the substantial initial down-payment is the beginning of a conversation about historical injustices, not the end of it,” they said.
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — It could cost California more than $800 billion to compensate Black residents for generations of over-policing, disproportionate incarceration and housing discrimination, economists have told a state panel considering reparations.
Black residents may not receive cash payments anytime soon, this is just another Democrat Party’s Con and Deception.
I.A.W. U.S. Census & FBI (Table 43a)
Black males make up about 7% of the U.S. population but every year commit ~56% of all the murders and ~64% of all robberies in the U.S… Every year in the U.S. there are ~6,000 African-Americans men, women and children killed and 92% of them were killed by fellow African-Americans.
Maybe this is the reason that Blacks have a disproportionate incarceration!
HOW Dare you bring up facts.. RHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
A growing number of responsible black people are taking charge of their own lives and are working their way out of the cesspool that the inner-city black community has become. However, look for the remainder of welfare-milking black people from all over the country to move to California in droves to take advantage of the “free stuff.” Good luck, non-black California residents. You’re gonna need it.
My Yankee GGrandfather was killed during the Civil War. I want paid for his loss plus pain and suffering for his widow and fatherless children.
After all, let’s be fair about this. Black people today are free to live as they chose, thanks to people like him. YOU owe ME!
BUT he was white, so under the leftist ideology, HE IS ENTITLED TO NOTHING.
Utter absurdity.
Take money from people who never owned slaves, give it to people who never were slaves, in a state where slavery was NEVER allowed.
Another brain-dead, pandering liberal moron heard from…..
California could make a better argument for reparations to the Asians they exploited then the blacks!
This is so ludicrous that it must be a bad joke and we should be expecting Dave Chappelle to jump out and say “just kidding”. Is this a case of white guilt? Will this trigger people everywhere claiming that they deserve compensation due to any kind of slight against them and/or their ancestors?
With this I expect a mass migration of Blacks to California. This should be good. Getting my popcorn.
Again how much of that is africa and Muslim slave traders going to cover ??
NOT
A
Single
Dime…
I couldn’t more happier hearing this… I can’t wait to see the CA taxpayers when they get the bill to pay people who have never been slaves. I actually think the amount is too low… how about a billion dollars even to each?
IF they dislike the bill, they will just whine to unca fed guvmint, to bail them out, and i am 99% sure, that unca govt, WILL DO SO.