California Black reparations task force concludes historic 2-year work

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s first-in-the-nation reparations task force wraps up its historic work with a final report to lawmakers. The report documents the state’s role in perpetuating discrimination against Black residents and suggests dozens of ways to atone. Recommendations include a formal apology to descendants of Black people enslaved in the U.S. and financial compensation. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation creating the task force in 2020 and the nine-member panel began meeting in June 2021. Critics say that people who never owned slaves should not bear the cost of reparations to people who are not enslaved today. But the hundreds of people who testified before the task force over two years disagreed.