California’s historic work on possible Black reparations moves to the Legislature

By SOPHIE AUSTIN and JANIE HAR
Associated Press/Report for America

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s first-in-the-nation reparations task force met for a final time in a crowded hearing room in Sacramento Thursday. A boisterous audience chanted for reparations as the task force submitted its final report to lawmakers. The findings document the state’s role in perpetuating discrimination against Black residents and includes more than 100 policy recommendations. The ideas include apologizing to descendants of Black people enslaved in the U.S. and paying them reparations. The nine-member panel began meeting in June 2021. Critics say people who never owned slaves should not have to pay reparations to people who are not enslaved today.