California governor responds to recommended reparations payments for Black residents

By Tina Burnside and Christine Sever, CNN

California’s governor responded Wednesday to the reparations payments for some Black state residents that were recommended by a task force looking at how to mitigate injustices and discrimination stemming from slavery.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called the recommendations “a milestone in our bipartisan effort to advance justice and promote healing.” He added, “We need to wait for the Task Force to finish its work and submit its final report,” without offering any further details about whether he supports the recommendations put forth.

“We are waiting for the process to be completed,” Newsom, a Democrat who is White, said in a statement.

The recommendations approved Saturday outline restitution that, if approved by state lawmakers, could cost billions of dollars to address historical disparities in health care, housing and policing.

“Dealing with the legacy of slavery is about much more than cash payments,” Newsom said in his statement.

“Many of the recommendations put forward by the Task Force are critical action items we’ve already been hard at work addressing: breaking down barriers to vote, bolstering resources to address hate, enacting sweeping law enforcement and justice reforms to build trust and safety, strengthening economic mobility — all while investing billions to root out disparities and improve equity in housing, education, healthcare, and beyond. This work must continue,” he said.

While federal reparations efforts have stalled in Congress, pushes in California and some US cities to atone for harms rooted in slavery — and address the racial wealth gap — have gained momentum since the 2020 police killing of George Floyd rekindled the Black Lives Matter movement.

The California task force’s recommendations will be presented at its next meeting, then to the state Legislature by July 1. Among possible estimated values of recommended reparations for Black Californians are:

• For health care disparities: $13,619 for each year of residency, based on 71-year life expectancy;

• For housing discrimination: $148,099 or $3,366 for each year between 1933 and 1977 spent as a resident of the state;

• For mass incarceration and overpolicing: $115,260 or $2,352 for each year of residency in California during the 49-year period between 1971 and 2020.

The state’s Black population includes more than 2.5 million people.

Newsom in 2021 signed the bill to establish the task force, and five of its nine members are appointed by the governor.

Newsom will continue to partner with the Legislature to advance systemic changes that ensure an inclusive and equitable future for all Californians, he said.

The task force recommendations also have called for a state office to process reparations claims and “identify and mitigate the ways that current and previous policies have damaged and destabilized Black families,” to restore historical sites, to support education and to offer free legal aid and other services.

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