Black Californians COULD get a Lowball amount of $223,000 each in reparations

This article covers the Black Californians reparations proposal and the amount the task force put forward. Learn more about the topic on Wikipedia.

Key takeaways on Black Californians reparations

• In 2020, CA Governor Gavin Newsom formed a task force to decide how the state could best administer reparations to Black residents.
• The task force has proposed providing upwards of $223,200 for each qualifying resident.
• Details of the proposal will be further outlined in December and then sent to the governor for approval.

The debate over reparations

People have long debated whether “Black” American citizens should receive a monetary grant or other benefit. Supporters see it as a means to acknowledge the decades of slavery, oppression, and systemic racism. They also see it as an attempt to correct them. Those decades have perpetuated the nation’s racial wealth gap. But in 2023, California says it plans on tackling this complex issue head-on.

What the task force proposed

Governor Gavin Newsom created a special task force. The task force has put forth a groundbreaking proposal. The proposal aims to level the playing field for California’s Black residents.

The team of experts recommends a payment of $223,200 in reparations. Each Californian who is a descendant of free or enslaved African Americans living in the United States prior to the end of the 19th century would receive it.

The task force determined the $223,000 figure by measuring the housing wealth gap for California’s Black and white citizens between 1933 and 1977. Those are the years prior to The Housing Financial Discrimation Act of 1977. The gap equates to a staggering $569 billion.

How the $223,000 figure works for Black Californians

The state has determined the dollar figure it seeks for reparations. However, it is still unclear how the state would distribute the payments or grants to qualifying residents.

What happens next

The proposal is one of the first of its kind. It stands to become one of the most substantial reparations programs ever in the US if enacted. The special task force will further refine its proposal in December. Then it will send the package to the state legislature. Finally, it will go to Newsom’s office sometime in the next year.

“We are looking at reparations on a scale that is the largest since Reconstruction,” Dr. Jovan Scott Lewis, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a member of the California reparations task force, said to the New York Times about the initiative.

Activists, educators, and policymakers have been particularly deliberate about exploring different ways to address the economic disparities in the US socioeconomic structure. This has happened in the years following the civil unrest sparked by the murder of George Floyd. That event led to a massive wave of demonstrations. The demonstrations forced the country to confront its history of racial injustice. However, few leaders have brought forward proposals as sweeping in scope as the one produced by California’s special task force.

Why many call the Black Californians reparations amount a lowball

Many have already scoffed at the amount and see it to be a lowball amount. At one point in time, people literally hung Black Americans from trees and murdered them. People burned entire towns down (Tusla Massacre). Black people have been systemically oppressed for hundreds of years.

Just because murdering black people was literally deemed “ok” back then, doesn’t mean it was ok. Everyone was forced to accept it.

In addition to the amount of GENERATIONAL black wealth that was stolen and burned to the ground, black people also never received their “40 acres and a mule.”

Late fees, interest, and penalties should be due to Black Americans. The US government wants its fees, interest, and penalties from every American.

To clarify, $223,000 would definitely help practically every Black America in California that would receive it.

Homeownership and the Black Californians reparations plan

According to the California Housing Finance Agency, Black Americans have the lowest homeownership rate in the state. Unjust housing policies cause this disparity. They include segregation and redlining, and they trace back many decades. However, the task force intends its proposal to help close this gap.

A separate housing study from the Public Policy Institute of California reveals the state’s homeownership rates in 2019. The Black homeownership rate was 36.8%. The rate for white households was significantly higher at 63.2%.

Rising home values and the down payment problem

The report reads, “home equity makes up the majority of wealth for low-and middle-income families.” Gaps in the homeownership rate have only further contributed to wealth inequality in the state.

This divide has only worsened since the start of the pandemic. High demand led to equally high home values across California. Although home prices have started falling across the state, many Black residents of California remain priced out of homeownership. They also miss out on a key part of building generational wealth.

If the reparations proposal passes, it could help many eligible Black residents afford a down payment for a home. That is a monumental task. The state’s typical home value is $765,495, the most current Zillow data suggests. This means a standard 20% down payment on a conventional 30-year mortgage for a typical California home would take well over $150,000 in cash on hand.

Other states have also awarded reparations to their Black constituents

While the California proposal is sweeping in its scope, Newsom’s office can study examples of reparations programs elsewhere.

In Evanston, Illinois, 16 Black residents will receive $25,000 grants. Evanston is the inner-ring suburb directly north of Chicago. The grants come via the city’s government-backed-and-funded Reparations Restorative Housing Program. To qualify, the recipients had to have lived as adults in the city at some point between 1919 and 1969.

Rue Simmons is a former Evanston City Council member and the architect of the reparations program. Today, she works on similar programs across the country. She also told Insider earlier this year that the initiative was “an incredible milestone.” Finally, she said it’s a shame that “ordinary public policy did not correct” the city’s “historic wrongs.”

Reparations discussions in St. Louis

As the conversation on reparations spread, lawmakers in several other cities are also discussing policies similar to those in Evanston and California. In St. Louis, Mayor Tishaura Jones has appointed a reparations commission. The commission intends to introduce a proposal to “begin repairing the harms that have been inflicted” by racial injustice in one of the nation’s most segregated cities.

The commission will have nine diverse members that all reside in St. Louis, the city reports. The group will “explore the history of race-based harms” in St. Louis. It will also “reveal the present-day manifestations of that history.” Once they come to a conclusion, they will propose the best way to administer funds and resources for the area’s Black residents.

“The people closest to the problems are closest to the solution,” Jones said in a December release. “I look forward to reviewing this commission’s work to chart a course that restores the vitality of Black communities in our city after decades of disinvestment. We cannot succeed as a city if one-half is allowed to fail.”

Read this original article on INSIDER.

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• Top Civil Rights Violation Settlements in California ranging from $147,000 to $65 million, a list of the top 50 civil rights violation settlements obtained in California in 2020.
• Most Diverse States for People of Color, a comparison using Census data and state laws.
• Formerly Hot Housing Market Cooling Off, on the housing market cooling as mortgage rates climb.
• Kamala Harris says She WON’t do anything for black people, on slavery, oppression and the Tulsa race massacre.