California Gov. Gavin Newsom State of the State 2021 speech at Dodger Stadium. (Photo: gov.ca.gov)
California Reparations Panel Estimates $569 Billion is Owed to Black Residents
‘This Task Force is playing with fire and they know it’
By Evan Symon, December 2, 2022 1:19 pm
The California Reparations Task Force gave their first estimation on possible reparations for African-Americans in California on Thursday, coming to an estimated figure of $569 billion of reparations based on past housing discrimination practices in California.
The Task Force was first put together in late 2020 following Gov. Gavin Newsom signing AB 3121 to establish it. They are currently looking for what possible reparations, monetary or otherwise, to recommend to give to African-Americans living in California for past discriminatory practices and slavery, despite the latter not occurring in California following statehood in 1850. While initially encompassing all people of African descent, the group of those qualified to receive reparations was significantly narrowed in March when the task force voted to limit the possible reparations only to those who are an African American descendant of an enslaved person or free Black person living in the US prior to the end of the 19th century.
In June the Task Force’s first report came out, giving a recommendation of reparations, likely in the form of home buying assistance, free college tuition, and business grants. However, one of the many criticisms against the report was that not estimated monetary figure was attached, with many worried about how high it could be. On Thursday, first estimates on possible reparations were released.
According to the Task Force, qualified black residents, who make up slightly less than 7% of the state’s population, would be eligible to receive $223,200 each, or roughly $569 billion in total. The figure comes from the “housing wealth gap,” or discrimination policies in place between 1933 and 1977 that cost black residents an estimate $5,074 per year. If the figures stay the same in the final report and are approved, the reparations given out would be the most the country has seen since the 1860’s.
“We are looking at reparations on a scale that is the largest since Reconstruction,” noted UC Berkeley Professor and Task Force member Jovan Scott Lewis on Thursday.
$569 billion in possible reparations
Despite the release of an estimated figure on Thursday, reparations are still far from a done deal and remain unlikely to pass in California. The Task Force is due to release the final report, complete with final recommended figures, in June 2023. This would also include how payments would be given out, with housing grants, college tuition, and direct cash payments, amongst other types, being considered. Following that, the California Legislature would then decide on what, if anything, they could do.
Such action would likely come in the form of a bill, which would need approval from both houses and the Governor.. Even if it makes it past those, the bill would then likely have to contend with lawsuits and ballot measures that could weaken, or outright dismiss, any reparations at all.
“This Task Force is playing with fire and they know it,” explained legal adviser Richard Weaver to the Globe on Thursday. “I mean, $569 billion. Somehow, if that is passed through and the Governor signs it, there will be dozens of lawsuits filed before the ink is even dry. There will be groups ready to go with petitions. I can tell you right now, as the Task Force has been gathering evidence for reparations, many groups out there have been gathering evidence against it either totally, or just against any direct cash payments.”
“We’ve been wanting possible estimates on this for awhile, but no one really expected the Task Force to have the gall to say this amount. Both sides, for and against, were just kind of stunned with the estimated amount. It’s that ridiculous.”
The Task Force is due to give their final reparations recommendations by June of 2023, with the Task Force then dissolving in December 2023. A bill hoping to extend the Task Force into 2024 was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom earlier this year.
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FknMadness!
California was never a slave state and no one alive today in the USA was a slave or owned a slave. The California Reparations Task Force is a farce and needs to be scraped along with their bogus reparation estimates.
So lets get this straight. California was never a slave state. In fact its gold help pay for the Union victory. For its first 90 years of statehood there was almost no black population in state. It was still less than 2% in 1940. The black population reached it peak in 1980 at less than 8% and forty years later its below 6% and has been the smallest “minority” in the state for decades and at the current rate of decline may be back to 1950 numbers in a decade or two. So the black population in the state has gone from a very small minority to a (probably) very small minority in about one lifetime.
Oh yeah, that “housing wealth gap”. That was almost totally due (if it ever existed) to red lining that had little to do with city ordinances or development covenants so beloved by “progressive” authors and everything to do with the home mortgage rules created by New Deal laws like the Federal Home Loan Bank Act of 1932 and Fannie Mae set up in 1938. Funny that. The party of Jackson and Jefferson Davis and Woodrow Wilson was the same party that red line black home ownership for many decades in the state.
Would the “commission” like to discuss that awkward fact? Of course not.
So the “reparations”. An attempt at a fraudulent shakedown. Pure and simple.
So, if the black population in California was so low back in the day, you don’t have to worry about too many people receiving reparations. Problem solved. The bottom line is whether the black California population was 1% or 50%, they were still horribly discriminated against, and that needs to be rectified.
I’m moving Rachel Dolezal and marrying her right now.
moving her to California…oops
Dude…uh…have a couple of beers and think this one over.
The United States has spent $27 trillion dollars (that is trillion with a “t”) on the “War On Poverty” since 1965. Most of that $27 trillion with a “t” has gone to the Black community. I think that is more than enough for “slavery reparations”. I don’t want to sound like a racist or white supremacist, but has any of that hard earned TAX DOLLARS helped or had an effect on the Black community? I think not.
First of all, the majority of people on welfare are white, and always have been, so to attribute that supposed 27 trillion to Black people is a major stretch! Secondly, you can fight a war on poverty all you want, if you’re fighting incorrectly, you’re going to lose, and it’s of no use. We all know a welfare check is about $550 a month, with a few extra hundred dollars in food stamps. What the hell kind of poverty is that going to fight? How many businesses is someone going to build with that? Your very argument is in bad faith, because you know welfare does nothing more than provide someone a hand to mouth existence. Lastly, if you think a monthly $550 welfare check pays for someone being enslaved, beaten, and raped, then you’re far more racist than can be reasoned with.
Did you notice this is just for housing issues? I bet the greedy activists have a list of a 1,000 other things they also want billions for.
This is an attempt to financially enslave people who never owned slaves in perpetuity.
Truth!
Reparations for what?
(And that wasn’t intended to be snide.)
I guess there is no consideration for the blood and treasure spilled during the civil war. An estimate of 630,000 lives were lost to end slavery in this country. California was a benefactor due to the sacrifice of the civil war soldiers.
This is a scam on the California taxpayer and a jumping off point for Governor Gruesome to run for president.
Absolutely disgusting and is another wedge to divide people!
If you thought the $30 billion in unemployment benefits that California gladly gave away to criminals, even those in jail, wait until you see the theft and corruption that will happen with reparations.
Wow, even the Daily Mail covered this madness. Probably because Newsom is a “presidential hopeful” —
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11496299/Members-Newsoms-reparations-committee-slammed-US.html
Hi ShowandTell,
I just read this and was about to share????
The big take away that reparations are really just a communistic ploy!
Thank you for posting the link all should read who this 9 person task force really are.
Spread it far and wide even on twitter????
Cali Girl, interesting that you and I probably read this at the same time.
I agree, share and spread and even tweet it!
If $559 billion is “owed back” , should I have seen some of that money when it was out of loan to those now charged with paying it back now?
I don’t recall getting my fair share of this alleged $559 billion that was allegedly taken away from them. Unless they can settle this out in my own account, I can’t see that I owe anyone any payback for anything. Otherwise this “due and payable” balance sheet simply does not pencil out.
Take off your virtue-signaling hair shirt, Newsom .Or else show me the money that I unlawfully took from someone else – since 1619 fercrissakes.
The way I look at it, any freed slave who chose not to take the free passage and stipend passage back to Africa after the Civil War, made a conscious decision for themselves and all their future relatives to become an full American citizen and be handed one of the most precious rewards ever bestowed on anyone: A US passport, for now and forever.
If $559 billion is “owed back” , should I have seen some of that money when it was out of loan to those now charged with paying it back now?
I don’t recall getting my fair share of this alleged $559 billion that was allegedly taken away from them. Unless they can settle this out in my own account, I can’t see that I owe anyone any payback for anything. Otherwise this “due and payable” balance sheet simply does not pencil out.
Take off your virtue-signaling hair shirt, Newsom .Or else show me the money that I unlawfully took from someone else – since 1619 fercrissakes.
The way I look at it, any freed slave who chose not to take the free passage and stipend passage back to Africa after the Civil War, made a conscious decision for themselves and all their future relatives to become an full American citizen and be handed one of the most precious rewards ever bestowed on anyone: A US passport, for now and forever. You are welcome.
AMEN
What else do you expect from these carefully selected hateful social justice parasites. These creatures have made careers of refining the art of hate, division and wealth redistribution.
The California Reparations Panel is obviously racist, insensitive, white supremacist and intolerant!!! Everyone knows African Americans in California are owed at least 47 million each due to past discrimination! Please cut a check immediately for the 131 trillion dollars owed.
When did California allow women to vote, and grant them full economic rights.
Got my calculator here, but I need to plug in facts to see how much you suckers owe me as the present representative for all my abused female ancestors.
I like the way this is going, and I did not even need to join a union.
CalPERS has about $450 billion in assets. I approve if you use the public employees retirement fund to pay the reparations. I am certain those woke public employees will condone the virtue signaling with their retirement nest egg.
There ya go!
I am sure they would approve of that.
Unfortunately, we the people are on the the hook for the failed Calpers fund.
The supermajority protects their minions.
We are not on the hook for the now trillions owed to under-funded and over-promised CalPERS public pension fund, if we move out of state when the bills are due.
Not sure what will happened if the till has run dry, when most boomers start collecting their “lifetime”government pensions.
Just like all the CalPERS pension beneficiaries, who take their pensions and immediately move to a low-cost low tax state to enjoy our generous defined-benefit pensions we granted them, which we unfortunately awarded them at our own future expense.
Money talks but more importantly walks, when it sees it is getting a raw deal.
Use CalPERS to pay it. I am certain the woke virtue signaling public employees will approve spending their retorement nest egg wisely.
Gimme my free Billion$$$
I think the Democrats should be the only ones shelling out this money because they were and are the party of slavery. Democrats started the Civil War because they didn’t want to give up their slaves, more black babies are aborted and killed now because of their love for Planned Parenthood and it’s founder racist eugenist Margaret Sanger and their failed social and “criminal justice reform” policies. I am all for this as long as Democrats give those reparations from their party coffers and from their bank accounts. The hypocrisy of the Democratic Party is stunning and they have run CA into the ground. I was a Social Worker who worked in their failed social welfare policies for decades in CA and their goal is to keep people dependent for power and control. As far as CalPers I worked my ass off for not a lot of pay, had huge caseloads and worked with very little resources to help people from all walks of life. My employer did NOT pay into Social Security, just CalPers, and now that is in peril because of the liberal idiots who invest our retirement savings! I will have no retirement if it fails. I also did not get medical after retirement since I worked for a county so before you all start bashing CalPers please learn about it as there is a difference between county and state employees who have paid into it for our retirement. We also made less, because of the whole myth of how great Pers is, then those in the private sector working the same type of jobs and the unions did nothing for us except take our dues and give it to the Democrats. I am not a believer in the unions and think they do more damage then good in this day and age. As a Social Worker I was disgusted with the policies that I had to work within as most did nothing to give a hand up, which is why I went into the field.
Kristin, appreciate your first-hand experience posts; so valuable and informative.
After the current reparation recipients blow through this OPM cash, what will prevent their progeny from making the same demands since they were not part of this novel California reparation contract and gained nothing from it?
Reality shows most people who get free things, immediately demand even more the very next day. What is our protection against an endless drain of perpetual virtue-signaling?
These idiots are not going to succeed in their evil plan but if they did who would stay and pay the astronomical taxes that would be necessary? Who are they kidding?
First, we should deduct the $22 trillion that has been spent on programs for the poor since Martin Luther King.
This reparations scheme is built on foundation of sand. California was never a slave state and the ancestors of most Black Californians came to the state during the mid-20th Century. Take my family for example. My father and grandparents migrated to Los Angeles in 1938 from Houston, Texas and my mother migrated to Los Angeles from Louisiana in 1957. My parents purchased their first home in 1965 in an upper middle class neighborhood of Los Angeles, Baldwin Hills aka “the Black Beverly Hills” where I was initially raised. I personally own a home (my 2nd) in a middle class neighborhood in a Northern California city. I have never been enslaved nor have I experienced housing discrimination. Now, if Gavin Newsom wants to give me 223K, he’s welcome to do so out of his own pockets but not on the backs of the already beleaguered California taxpayers. Perhaps he should get his billionaire San Francisco and Silicon Valley donor friends to contribute.
Light complexion African Americans fare way better than dark complexed African Americans. Society is less cruel to high yellow African Americans. I am sure you benefited from it whether you realized it or not. If you are light complexed, well educated, pleasing to the eye, and/or well versed, society is generally more gentle with you.
It’s true there are no living slave owners today but the contributions that the slaves made for centuries benefited the white people of the USA without doing anything for the slaves themselves. So yes their descendants should be compensated for their sacrifices, injustices and continued discrimination they face. When you look at the whole picture why aren’t the African Americans / Blacks at the same level as the White Americans when both groups were occupants of the USA for nearly the same amount of centuries. Please don’t say because they are lazy and do not wish to be on the same level.
So people who have no connection to slavery at all owe truck loads of money to people who were never slaves (or their parents, grandparents or great grandparents)? Very few people have any ancestors that owned slaves. Poor folk like my ancestors were also on the losing end of things. Then there are the millions of people who are immigrants or descendants of immigrants who arrived after the civil war.
all black people have an connection with slavery we carry on are slave master last name or the one they appointed us we don’t have are true id we were robbed of that privilege and know amount of money could ever give us are true id we have adopted last names not birth if my ancestors or from Africa why no African last names
American Patriot are you really serious? Your argument doesn’t hold water. I would advise you reading this article from Jason Hill….
https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/557242-slavery-makes-a-weak-case-for-californias-modern-day-reparations/
Rick W that commentary by Jason Hill is a joke. And anyone that buys into it is as comical as the article. Hurt, pain, financial loss and property stolen from one’s family can be past down generational if it was never recovered and resolved.
American Patriot, baseless entitlement is dangerous, toxic and divisive. Explain to me how you’ve been personally disenfranchised and enslaved. Reparations should be paid out to those DIRECTLY impacted by the injustice and who are able to justify the claim.
Rick W I am not from enslaved people but I advocate for them.
I’m sorry, but if you are still “struggling with slavery,” I’m still struggling with when the Vikings enslaved my relatives. They stole our lands, burned our fields and assaulted our women. I blame all my current failures on Vikings
DL it’s about reclaiming what is owed to you. It’s not about failure.
What about American Indians then? If blacks who were never slaves are owed hundreds of thousands for fictional damages then what are Indians owed for an entire continent stolen? I have a personal interest in this. By my highly scientific calculations I am owed at least a bazillion dollars.
CW I stand with Native Americans!
My Grandmother was born on A plantation didn’t know her real last name nor her Birth date the only how we found out her birth date is because the US Cencus her mom was beaten raped the stories that she told were traumatizing and its not enough money in the world that could give us are real identity back so pls don’t say that we was not affected by slavery we don’t even know who we really are so I was robbed of my heritage long before i was born
Mr. Anthony Johnson was a black man. Therefore, Mr. Anthony Johnson must be recognized as the father of legalized slavery in America. So, the father of legalized, court-sanctioned slavery in America was a black man. The official U.S. Census of 1830 showed that 3,375 free blacks owned 12,740 black slaves. The U. S. Census of 1860 showed almost 27 million whites lived in the country and fewer than 385,000 reported owning slaves. That’s about 1.4% of the total white population. According to this same 1860 census, 261,988 southern blacks were not slaves. The same census list several blacks owning 65 or more slaves. Blacks in one South Carolina city claimed over $1.5 million in taxable property, including slaves valued in excess of $300,000.
Has anyone even received their so-called Inflation relief check? I never did. In fact, I think there were supposed to be two different ones I never saw.
It says DESCENDANT OF ONE I HAVE LOTS OF PAPER WORK TO PROVE IT
SURE DID ABOUT 2 WEEKS AGO
I can’t even do my family tree. When Great Great Grandma was alive, she told us her mother had a baby from her slave owner, but how would I prove that?
It says DESCENDANT OF ONE I HAVE LOTS OF PAPER WORK TO PROVE IT
It sounds good to help people but in the end we have put trillions of dollars into the black community with little to show for it. My family used to live in a neighborhood with blacks and Italians, we are Italian. We got out, got educated and moved into middle class neighborhoods and so did a few of the black folks. The system ruins people with free handouts every time you turn around. Make people study and work to get ahead it will benefit them in the long run.
Mr. Anthony Johnson was a black man. Therefore, Mr. Anthony Johnson must be recognized as the father of legalized slavery in America. So, the father of legalized, court-sanctioned slavery in America was a black man.
The official U.S. Census of 1830 showed that 3,375 free blacks owned 12,740 black slaves. The U. S. Census of 1860 showed almost 27 million whites lived in the country and fewer than 385,000 reported owning slaves. That’s about 1.4% of the total white population.
According to this same 1860 census, 261,988 southern blacks were not slaves. The same census list several blacks owning 65 or more slaves. Blacks in one South Carolina city claimed over $1.5 million in taxable property, including slaves valued in excess of $300,000.
YOU KNOW WHO IS KEEPING RACISM ALIVE ?? I NEVER THINK ABOUT IT , DON’T EVEN THINK OF THE COLOR SKIN ANYONE HAS, UNTIL RACIST GROUPS LIKE BLM START STIRRING THE POT, I DON’T EVEN PUT IT ON FORMS WHAT I AM I JUST MARK ” OTHER ” AND IF IT GIVES ME THE OPTION TO WRITE IT IN ? I WRITE ” AMERICAN ” LIKE I TELL MY KIDS ” EVERYONE IS OUR FRIEND UNTIL THEY PROVE OTHERWISE!”
Anthony Johnson (colonist) research this one name in American history. Blacks are owed nothing.
A study released yesterday showed the real cost is $89 Trillion and it would require a 100% tax on every adult to afford 25% of the cost and we would see an immediate collapse of the US. The Squad and the other Politicians know this is impossible but it is a good political stunt where all they have to do is act mad that the Reperations aren’t being financed and people will believe that they were on the minorities side and tried.
I disagree strongly. when is it enough?