California Reparations Task Force Releases Final Reparations Report

The California Reparations Task Force released their final report Thursday, outlining more than 100 recommendations on how descendants of slaves in California could receive some form of compensation.

Since the Task Force was first put together in late 2020, the Task Force has had a long, controversial road to a final report. While initially encompassing all people of African descent, the group of those qualified to receive reparations was significantly narrowed in March 2022 when the task force voted to limit the possible reparations 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 2022 the Task Force released its first report, giving a recommendation of reparations, in the form of home buying assistance, free college tuition, and business grants. However, one of the many criticisms against the report recommendations was that no estimated monetary figure was attached. In early December, an estimate of $569 billion was provided by the state, leading to disbelief and the threat of lawsuits if the number holds. Later that month, compensation compensation and eligibility requirements were discussed.

However, since the beginning of the year, many parts of the Task Force’s actions have been scrutinized. The question of compensation has in particular been trounced by the media, as well as residents, with so many opposing the $800 billion compensation plan approved by the Task Force in May that Task Force members came out and said “STOP focusing on the monetary part of the plan.” A more recent figure of $1.2 million given to each black resident has been similarly scrutinized.

It was so much that Governor Newsom said that he would not support cash payments, both due to the large cost and the massive $22.5 billion budget deficit that the state is facing. Also not working in the Task Force’s favor is an overall lack of support, as a poll earlier this month found that only 39% of voters support the Task Force. Despite waning popularity, the Task Force kept most of their previously floated recommendations, releasing the final report on Thursday.

The List of Recommendations

According to the final report, the Task Force recommends the following:

General Structural Policy Recommendations:

• Mandate Effective Racial Impact Analyses
• Create and Fund the California American Freedman
  Affairs Agency
• Repeal Proposition 209
• Require Agency Transparency
• Make Legislative Findings that Build Legislative Records
  that Reflect the Historic and Present State of Pervasive
  Structural Barriers and Discrimination Against African
  Americans and Support Reparative Enactments
• Transmit the AB 3121 Task Force Report to the President
  of the United States and the United States Congress

Policies Addressing Enslavement:

• Enact a Resolution Affirming the State’s Protection of
  Descendants of Enslaved People and Guaranteeing
  Protection of the Civil, Political, and Socio-Cultural
  Rights of Descendants of Enslaved People
• Amend the California Constitution to Prohibit
  Involuntary Servitude
• Require Payment of Fair Market Value for Labor
  Provided by Incarcerated Persons (Whether in Jail
  or Prison)
• Emphasize the “Rehabilitation” in the California
  Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
• Abolish the Death Penalty
• Prohibit Private Prisons from Benefiting from
  Contracts with CDCR to Provide Reentry Services to
  Incarcerated or Paroled Individuals

Policies Addressing Racist Terror:

• Advance the Study of the Intergenerational, Direct,
  and Indirect Impacts of Racism
• Establish and Fund Community Wellness Centers in
  African American Communities
• Fund Research to Study the Mental Health Issues
  Within California’s African American Youth
  Population, and Address Rising Suicide Rates Among
  African American Youth
• Expand the Membership of the Mental Health
  Services Oversight and Accountability Commission
  to Include an Expert in Reducing Disparities in
  Mental Health Care Access and Treatment
• Fund Community-Driven Solutions to Decrease
  Community Violence at the Family, School, and
  Neighborhood Levels in African American Communities
• Address and Remedy Discrimination Against African
  American LGBTQ+ Youth and Adults, Reduce
  Economic Disparities for the African American
  LGBTQ+ Population, and Reduce Disparities in
  Mental Health and Health Care Outcomes for
  African American LGBTQ+ Youth and Adults
• Implement Procedures to Address the Over-Diagnosis
  of Emotional Disturbance Disorders, Including
  Conduct Disorder, in African American Children
• Disrupt the Mental Health Crisis and County Jail
  Cycle in African American Communities
• Create and Fund Equivalents to the UC-PRIME-LEADABC Program for Psychologists, Licensed Professional
  Counselors, and Licensed Professional Therapists
• Eliminate Legal Protections for Peace Offcers Who
  Violate Civil or Constitutional Rights
• Recommend Abolition of the Qualifed Immunity
  Doctrine to Allow Access to Justice for Victims of
  Police Violence
• Assess and Remedy Racially Biased Treatment of African
  American Adults and Juveniles in Custody in County
  Jails, State Prisons, Juvenile Halls, and Youth Camps

Policies Affecting Political Disenfranchisement:

• Require District-Based Voting and Independent
  Redistricting Commissions to Safeguard Against the
  Dilution of the African American Voting Bloc
• Increase Funding to Support the California
  Department of Justice’s Enforcement of Voting
  Rights in California
• Enact Legislation Aligning with the Objectives of
  AB 2576 and Establish Separate Funding to Support
  Educational and Civic Engagement Activities
• Provide Funding to NGOs Whose Work Focuses on
  Increasing Civic Engagement Among African Americans
• Declare Election Day a Paid State Holiday and Provide
  Support to Essential Workers to Increase Access to
  the Polls
• Remove the Barrier of Proving Identity to Vote
• Increase Jury Participation of Persons with Felony
  Convictions and Discourage Judges and Attorneys
  from Excluding Potential Jurors Solely for Having a
  Prior Felony Conviction
• Increase Efforts to Restore the Voting Rights of
  Formerly and Currently Incarcerated Persons
  and Provide Access to Those Who

Housing Segregation and Unjust Property Takings:

• Enact Policies Overhauling the Housing
  Industrial Complex
• Collect Data on Housing Discrimination
• Provide Anti-Racism Training to Workers in the
  Housing Field
• Expand Grant Funding to Community-Based
  Organizations to Increase Home Ownership
• Provide Property Tax Relief to African Americans,
  Especially Descendants, Living in Formerly Redlined
  Neighborhoods, Who Purchase or Construct a
  New Home
• Provide Direct Financial Assistance to Increase Home
  Ownership Among African Americans, Especially
  Descendants, Through Shared Appreciation Loans
  and Subsidized Down Payments, Mortgages, and
  Homeowner’s Insurance
• Require State Review and Approval of All Residential
  Land Use Ordinances Enacted by Historically and
  Currently Segregated Cities and Counties
• Repeal Crime-Free Housing Policies
• Increase Affordable Housing for African
  American Californians
• Provide Restitution for Racially Motivated Takings
• Provide a Right to Return for Displaced African
  American Californians

Separate and Unequal Education:

• Increase Funding to Schools to Address Racial Disparities
• Fund Grants to Local Educational Agencies to Address
  the COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impacts on Preexisting
  Racial Disparities in Education
• Implement Systematic Review of School Discipline Data
• Improve Access to Educational Opportunities for All
  Incarcerated People
• Adopt Mandatory Curriculum for Teacher
  Credentialing and Trainings for School Personnel
  and Grants for Teachers
• Employ Proven Strategies to Recruit African
  American Teachers
• Require that Curriculum at All Levels Be Inclusive
  and Free of Bias
• Advance the Timeline for Ethnic Studies Classes
• Adopt a K-12 Black Studies Curriculum
• Adopt the Freedom School Summer Program
• Reduce Racial Disparities in the STEM Fields for
  African American Students
• Expand Access to Career Technical Education
  for Descendants
• Improve Access to Public Schools
• Fund Free Tuition to California Public Colleges
  and Universities
• Eliminate Standardized Testing for Admission to
  Graduate Programs in the University of California
  and California State University Systems
• Identify and Eliminate Racial Bias and Discrimination
  in Statewide K-12 Profciency Assessments

Racism in Environment and Infrastructure:

• Increase Greenspace Access and Recreation
  Opportunities in African American Communities
• Test for and Eliminate Toxicity in
  Descendant Communities
• Increase Trees in Redlined and
  Descendant Communities
• Develop Climate Resilience Hubs in Redlined and
  Descendant Communities
• Remove Lead in Drinking Water
• Prevent Highway Expansion and Mitigate
  Transportation Pollution
• Address Food Injustice

Pathologizing the African American Family:

• Reduce and Seek to Eliminate Racial Disparities in the
  Removal of African American Children from Their
  Homes and Families
• Reduce the Placement of African American Children
  in Foster Care and Increase Kinship Placements for
  African American Children
• Establish and Fund Early Intervention Programs that
  Address Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Within the
  African American Community
• Eliminate Interest on Past-Due Child Support and
  Eliminate Back Child Support Debt
• Eliminate or Reduce Charges for Phone Calls
  from Detention Facilities Located Within the State
  of California
• Address Disproportionate Homelessness Among
  African American Californians
• Address Disparities and Discrimination Associated
  with Substance Use Recovery Services
• End the Under-Protection of African American
  Women and Girls

Control Over Creative, Cultural, And Intellectual Life:

• Provide State Funding to African Americans to
  Address Disparity in Compensation Among Athletes
  in the University of California and State System and
  Funding to Support African American Athletes in
  Capitalizing on their Name, Image, and Likeness and
  Intellectual Property
• Prohibit Discrimination Based on Natural and
  Protective Hair Styles in All Competitive Sports
• Identify and Remove Monuments, Plaques, State
  Markers, and Memorials Memorializing and
  Preserving Confederate Culture; Erect Monuments,
  Plaques, and Memorials Memorializing and
  Preserving the Reconstruction Era and the African
  American Community
• Provide Funding to the Proposed California American
  Freedmen Affairs Agency, Specifically for Creative,
  Cultural, and Intellectual Life
• Eliminate the California Department of Corrections
  and Rehabilitation’s Practice of Banning Books

Stolen Labor And Hindered Opportunities:

• Create Greater Transparency in
  Gubernatorial Appointments
• Provide Guaranteed Income Program for Descendants
• Eliminate Barriers to Licensure for People with
  Criminal Records
• Transform the Minimum Wage Back into a Living Wage
• Advance Pay Equity Through Employment Transparency
  and Equity in Hiring and Promotion
• Create and Fund Professional Career Training
• Create or Fund Apprenticeship Grant Programs
• Fund African American Businesses
• Fund African American Banks

The Unjust Legal System:

• Allocate Funds to Remedy Harms and
  Promote Opportunity
• Eliminate Barriers for African American Prospective
  Attorneys by Funding Legal Education and Ending
  Discriminatory Gatekeeping at the State Bar
• Prohibit Cash Bail and Mandate that Those Who Are
  Acquitted or Exonerated be Reimbursed by the Entity
  or Entities at Fault
• Enact Enforceable Legislation with Penalties that
  Dismantles the School to Prison Pipeline and
  Decriminalizes the Youth Justice System
• Amend the Penal Code to Clarify and Confirm
  Decriminalization of Transit and Other Public
  Disorder Offenses
• Amend the Penal Code to Shift Public Disorder
  Infractions and Low-Level Crimes Outside of Law
  Enforcement Jurisdiction
• Prohibit Pretextual Traffic and Pedestrian Stops,
  Probation Inquiries, and Consent-Only Searches
• Mandate Policies and Training on Bias-Free Policing
• Enact Legislation that Requires the Department
  of Justice to Promulgate Model Law Enforcement
  Policies Designed to Prevent Racial Disparities
  in Policing
• Repeal Three Strikes Sentencing
• Abolish the Death Penalty
• Strengthen and Expand the Racial Justice Act
• Assess and Remedy Racially Biased Treatment of
  African American Adults and Juveniles in Custody
  in County Jails, State Prisons, Juvenile Halls, and
  Youth Camps
• Accelerate Scheduled Closures of Identified
  California State Prisons and Close Ten Prisons Over
  the Next Five Years, with Financial Savings Redirected
  to the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency
• Require Payment of Fair Market Value for Labor
  Provided by Incarcerated Persons
• Emphasize the “Rehabilitation” in the California Department of
  Corrections and Rehabilitation
• Prohibit Private Prisons from
  Benefting from Contracts with
  CDCR to Provide Reentry Services to Incarcerated or
  Paroled Individuals
• Increase Efforts to Restore the Voting Rights of
  Formerly and Currently Incarcerated Persons
  and Provide Access to Those Who Are Currently
  Incarcerated and Eligible to Vote
• Eliminate Legal Protections for Peace Officers Who
  Violate Civil or Constitutional Rights
• Recommend Abolition of the Qualified Immunity
  Doctrine to Allow Victims of Police Violence
  Access to Justice
• End the Under-Protection of African American
  Women and Girls

Mental Physical Harm And Neglect:

• Address Health Inequities Among African American
  Californians by Funding the California Health Equity
  and Racial Justice Fund
• Improve Health Insurance Coverage
• Evaluate the Effcacy of Health Care Laws, Including
  Recent Enactments
• Address Anti-Black Discrimination in Health Care
• Mandate Standardized Data Collection
• Provide Medical Social Workers/Health Care Advocates
• Improve Diversity Among Clinical Trial Participants
• Remedy the Higher Rates of Injury and Death Among
  African American Mothers and Infants
• Fund Community Wellness Centers in African
  American Communities
• Fund Research to Study the Mental Health Issues
  Within California’s African American Youth Population,
  and Address Rising Suicide Rates Among African
  American Youth
• Meet the Health Needs of African American Elders
• Remedy Disparities in Oral Health Care
• Address Disparities and Discrimination Associated
  with Substance Use Recovery Services
• Fix Racially Biased Algorithms and Medical Artifcial
  Intelligence in Health Care
• Fund and Expand the UC PRIME-LEAD-ABC Program
  to be Available at All UC Medical Campuses
• Create and Fund Equivalents to the UC-PRIME-LEADABC Program for Psychologists, Licensed Professional
  Counselors, and Licensed Professional Therapists
• Permanently Fund the California Medicine Scholars
  Program and Create and Fund Equivalent Pathway
  Programs for Students in the CSU and UC Systems
• Review and Prevent Racially Biased Disciplinary
  Practices by the Medical Board of California
• Address Food Injustice
• Increase Greenspace Access and
  Recreation Opportunities in African American Communities
• Test for and Eliminate Toxicity in Descendant
  Communities
• Increase Trees in Redlined and Descendant
  Communities
• Develop Climate Resilience Hubs in Redlined and
  Descendant Communities
• Remove Lead in Drinking Water
• Prevent Highway Expansion and Mitigate
  Transportation Pollution

The Wealth Gap:

• Fund and Conduct a Study to Calculate the Overall
  Racial Wealth Gap in California
• Encourage the Federal Government to Use the National
  Racial Wealth Gap to Determine Federal-Level Reparations

In addition, while monetary compensation is also recommended, it did not give any recommended amounts, largely due to the continued backlash that the Task Force has received over compensation proposals that had reached over $800 billion in the past few years.

The Final Report

Task Force members defended their final report on Thursday, noting that California needs to address these issues now, before they “get worse.”

“We’re putting before the legislators in California the challenge to come up with a feasible way to address these issues over the years,” said Task Force member Don Tamaki on Thursday. “To ignore them is to just invite not only the harm to continue, but to grow worse. We need to start this process. These are harms that were literally centuries in the making. So the repairs have to be long in the implementation.”

Others also addressed the issue of compensation, with Task Force Chairwoman Kamilah Moore adding that “Overall, what we said is we believe there should be compensation, elders should be prioritized and it should be in installments.”

However, most recommendations were not received well by legal experts and members of the general public who questioned if most could be implemented due to various issues, and the open question of compensation.

“This is an embarrassing, patronizing, slapdash, and offensive list of recommendations,” explained Legal adviser Richard Weaver to the Globe on Thursday. “First of all, they didn’t even bother to spellcheck it, as it is riddled with typos, misspellings, and errors. The most important thing these members have ever done, and they couldn’t be bothered to run spellcheck. If they cared so much about this, they would have put more care into it.”

“A lot of these recommendations California is currently working on, so their inclusion here is meaningless. Others are now pretty much illegal, like the repeal of Prop 209 since that was solidified into federal law on Thursday. And still others are not a matter for the legislature to decide, but rather voters, the court system, or other means. Some are even repeated numerous times, like abolishing the death penalty.”

“There are some good ideas in here. Addressing food injustice, for example, like solving food deserts, is a major issue, but one that also affects more than just African Americans. Issuing an apology for past injustices is also fine. But, again, a lot we are already doing here. Like NCAA athlete compensation. That has been on the books in California for awhile now. There was no reason to put it in here. And then there are others that are just political minefields, like not requiring ID to vote.”

“What is going to happen is that the ones ultimately put into a bill are the zero or low cost things listed here, along with the recommendations that California has either done or has already been working on. A lot of the other ideas, well, there is just no way no sane members of the legislature will try.”

“If the Task Force’s goal was try to get legislation passed or help convince the public to bring about some of the more controversial ideas here, they went the wrong way with this report. I wouldn’t be surprised if no bill comes up as a result of this. This was not something to feel proud about.”

It is currently unknown what, if any, bills will be written as a direct result of the report in the next session.