Senator Steven Bradford. (Photo: Kevin Sanders for California Globe)
Non-Slave State California Initiating Reparations to Blacks in New Budget Bill
‘Racial wealth gap, racial terror, racial trauma, race-based traumatic stress – they are creating new categories of grievances
By Katy Grimes, June 23, 2024 9:40 am
The $297.9 billion budget plan California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrat leaders announced Saturday appropriates $12 million to fund a series of reparations-related bills lawmakers undoubtedly will pass later this year.
While crime escalates, California public schools fail students, homeless drug addicts live on city streets, already high energy costs are climbing higher, gas prices are highest in the nation, grocery and food costs are horrendous, California’s Democrat lawmakers – responsible for all of this – are teasing out reparations – for blacks in a state that supported the Union during the Civil War.
In May, Democrats passed a bill to create a new reparations state agency called the “California American Freedman Affairs Agency,” to assist Californians with any approved reparations programs. The bill was passed in the Senate in a split 30-7 vote, with 3 abstentions. SB 1403 is currently in the Assembly judiciary committee.
Senate Bill 1403, authored by Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), would establish the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency in state government, under the control of a secretary, who would be appointed by the Governor.
“This is a commonsense measure, something that’s long overdue for California and the nation,” said Senator Steven Bradford.
There is nothing common sense about the plan or proposed state agency.
“It seems to me like they’re putting, number one, the cart before the horse,” Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R-Corona) said. “They’re setting up these agencies and frameworks to dispense reparations without actually passing any reparations.”
Democrats continue with this diversionary, dangerous vanity project despite that 59% of all Californians oppose cash reparations payments, with only 28% in favor of them, a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) poll found in September.
Early on in the Reparations Task Force, members made clear they were seeking social justice state payments for being black. Task force member Jovan Scott Lewis said: “Spoiler-alert: We don’t yet know the racial wealth gap in the state of California. This is the preliminary conversation to figure out what we know and what we don’t know.”
Another task force member Dr. Cheryl Grills said: “Racial terror leads to racial trauma … also known as race-based traumatic stress,” the Globe reported in December 2022.
Remember this: “Racial wealth gap. Racial terror. Racial trauma. Race-based traumatic stress,” – they are creating new categories of grievances.
The Task Force recommended a plan that would have cost the state up to $800 billion. This received widespread backlash from across the political spectrum, the Globe reported.
As the Globe said, the state Reparations Task Force is pulling a bait-and-switch on Californians – with talk of a “racial wealth gap,” “racial terror,” “race-based traumatic stress,” and “guaranteed income for dependents of slaves.” But what they are really promoting is social justice reparations.
Reparations talk is a distraction from the failures of the governance of California. But distractions are the best failing politicians can come up with.
As the Globe reported last August, “reparations of any type are likely violations of Proposition 209, recently reinforced by a second statewide vote.
A local historian friend shared this with the Globe:
“Before and during the Civil War militia companies were ethnic, generally social groups with others from the ‘old country’ such as German, Irish, and Italian companies all over northern California. This was not then considered segregation, it was a place to socialize with those of similar backgrounds. Sacramento had a black militia company in that era. Many from those units joined the California Volunteers and fought in the eastern battles.
In the [Sacramento] Land Park area (there is a monument marker in the park) that was Camp Union Sutterville where seven regiments of infantry, two regiments of cavalry, and smaller specialized units were trained and participated primarily in two Union moves. One was to replace regular army troops in the west and they garrisoned posts all the way to Salt Lake City, founding an army base in that area that is still active. The other went to southern California and joined units raised in that area. Confederates had occupied what is now Arizona and New Mexico up to the California border. Camp Union troops were involved with pushing them back into Texas and when the war ended Sacramento troops were well established in that state.”
“That is a win,” Democratic Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, the chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, said in an interview, the Sacramento Bee reported. Lori Wilson is the Assemblywoman who authored a bill last year to require judges adjudicating disputes over transgender-identifying children to favor the parent who “affirms” the child’s preferred identity – meaning a parent could lose custody for not “affirming” or agreeing to a child’s claims about gender identity.
Wilson’s statement demonstrates that the state’s Democrats aren’t listening, and certainly are not on the right side of history. This diversionary plan of theirs is nothing more than a redistribution of taxpayers hard-earned income, and allows them to focus on anything other than the disaster their policies have created in California.
“This looks like the kind of bill Governor Newsom is going to want to veto,” Gail Heriot, Professor of Law at University of San Diego told the Globe in April. “If California creates a bureaucracy to administer reparations, the pressure to implement the Task Force’s extravagant recommendations will get stronger and stronger—like a train rolling downhill. Even if those recommendations were a good idea (which they aren’t), California cannot come close to affording them. The whole thing is irresponsible.”
Because of vehement opposition to giving any kind of monetary compensation coming from both California residents and lawmakers alike, all cash reparations proposals were dropped. Instead, lawmakers focused on general improvement reparations bills, which they claimed would come at no or little cost to the taxpayer…
Except it is going to cost taxpayers $12 million in this budget and a new state agency, and that’s just the start. See where this is going?
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Lawmakers are “focused on general improvement reparations bills, which they claimed would come at no or little cost to the taxpayer…” Yeah, right.
If you’re going the route of reparations, how about supporting the families of Union soldiers whose sons died in battle trying to free black slaves during the Civil War. No one ever talks about them.
They used to call it PAYOLA!
You scratch my back I scratch yours!
Same sh__ different day.
Vote-buying B.S. from desperate Dem Marxist politicians. That’s all this is. NO NO NO.
And by the way, what makes anyone think most American blacks are okay with this nonsense?
SHAME on these politicians and bureaucrats.
This is reparations scam is really about Democrat lawmakers trying to keep Blacks on the Democrat plantation at a time when Blacks are feeling it in droves? It was Democrats who instituted slavery, segregation, Jim Crow laws and the KKK. Instead of burdening California taxpayers who never enslaved anyone especially when California never was a slave state, maybe it’s Democrat Senator Steven Bradford, Democratic Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, and other legislative Democrats who need to apologize for slavery and pay reparations for the sins of their Democrat predecessors?
It’s curious as to why Democrat Senator Steven Bradford is pushing for reparations when the 35th senatorial district that he represents is overwhelming Latino/Hispanic at almost 55%? How did he get elected there? Do the majority of his taxpaying constituents want to pay for reparations? Probably not?
It’s also curious as to how Democratic Assemblywoman Lori Wilson is pushing for reparations when the 11th Assembly District when the population of that District is only about13% Black? How did she get elected there? Do the majority of her taxpaying constituents want to pay for reparations? Probably not?
Maybe both Democrats were installed into office with Democrat voter fraud and rigged voting machines?
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California%27s_35th_senatorial_district)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California%27s_11th_State_Assembly_district)
This is reparations scam is really about Democrat lawmakers trying to keep Blacks on the Democrat plantation at a time when Blacks are feeling it in droves? It was Democrats who instituted slavery, segregation, Jim Crow laws and the KKK. Instead of burdening California taxpayers who never enslaved anyone especially when California never was a slave state, maybe it’s Democrat Senator Steven Bradford, Democratic Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, and other legislative Democrats who need to apologize for slavery and pay reparations for the sins of their Democrat predecessors?
It’s curious as to why Democrat Senator Steven Bradford is pushing for reparations when the 35th senatorial district that he represents is overwhelming Latino/Hispanic at almost 55%? How did he get elected there? Do the majority of his taxpaying constituents want to pay for reparations? Probably not?
It’s also curious as to how Democratic Assemblywoman Lori Wilson is pushing for reparations when the 11th Assembly District when the population of that District is only about13% Black? How did she get elected there? Do the majority of her taxpaying constituents want to pay for reparations? Probably not?
Maybe both Democrats were installed into office with Democrat voter fraud and rigged voting machines?
All you Hispanics (and all other immigrants or those who descended from immigrants) – congratulations! Now you get to SLAVE away to give money to people who were never slaves! Ain’t Kalifornia great?
1st of all no one giving it away the state takes it by force if needed. Also, many working class been doing this for a long time->the govt takes your hard earned money and then determines who they think needs it more than you.
Pretty powerful lobby for only accounting for 5% of California’s population…reinforced by all the virtue signaling by Democrats who vote for this bill.
I’m OK with reparations if only Democrats get the bill to pay for this. Democrats were the slave owners. Republican fought and freed the slaves. No Republican should be paying for reparations. They already did, with their lives.
My grandmother’s father grew up without a father because he was killed fighting for the North. Does that count for anything? In the end, this is just the beginning of the reparations industrial complex. Eventually lots of six figure jobs for people who are associated with the powers that be in Sacramento. I expect they will be as successful as the homeless industrial complex. They will spend tons of money and make things worse.
No social, cultural,religious nor ethnic cohesion exists within California nor America thus we’re doomed the divide and conquer mode of collapse. The end is near!
It appears the California is going to give every black person a pork barrel job in lieu of doing anything but pimp out their vote. If I were black I would be embarassed.
Dr. Cheryl Grills said: “Racial terror leads to racial trauma … also known as race-based traumatic stress,”
Reparations will itself lead to race-based traumatic stress among the guiltless who have to pay for this.
Still waiting on reparations from the Roman Empire for the enslavement of my ancestors. Also, why aren’t we asking the Africans who enabled the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (and did the actual taking of slaves) to foot the bill for all of this? Plus, where is the compensation for the decedents of the over half a million American’s that died fighting in the Civil War that led to the ending of slavery in the US?
Why was this started when it seems that it’s been like fighting a losing battle? Building peoples hope for something that will possibly never happen.
Odious politicians and their friends think blacks will vote for them if they promise this crap.
I think they are wrong —- it’s insulting and unseemly, not to mention impossible to carry out as a practical matter —- but I suppose some who hope to “win the lottery” will unthinkingly vote Dem because of it.
But as Katy Grimes pointed out, in effect, building a “Reparations Task Force Industrial Complex” hands out money the state doesn’t have and apparently satisfies feelings of resentment at the same time by awarding slots on committees & etc. More pointless time-wasting and money-wasting, all courtesy of the geniuses in Sacramento.