SF Board Of Supervisors Vote 11-0 To Apologize to Black Residents for Decades of Discrimination

In a unanimous decision, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 11-0 on Tuesday to issue a formal apology to black residents for decades of discrimination.

The idea of reparations and apologizing for past discrimination against African Americans in California and San Francisco since 2020 following the George Floyd incident and protests. At the state level, the California Reparations Task Force met numerous times between 2020 and 2023, with them ultimately coming up with over 100 recommendations but stopping short of any cash payments. Currently, there are 14 bills stemming from the recommendations in the state legislature at the committee level, including one on giving a formal apology for past human rights violations against black people in California.

Similarly, the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee made over 100 recommendations of their own, including everything from simple apologies to giving out $5 million per black resident in the city, and giving $100,000 annual payments to black residents. While the latter recommendations have not gone anywhere outside of talk because of their unpopularity and lack of practicality with the city facing huge budgetary holes, Supervisors decided to move forward with the apology on Tuesday, with all 11 Supervisors behind it. Before San Francisco, Boston and nine states previously issued formal apologies for slavery or past discrimination against African Americans.

Supporters noted that the apology itself is the first step towards more substantial reparations. And acknowledging past incidents including the razing of the largely black Fillmore neighborhood, redlining, the decline of black residents, and other discriminatory policies.

In a statement on Tuesday, Supervisor Shamann Walton said that “This historic resolution apologizes on behalf of San Francisco to the African American community and their descendants for decades of systemic and structural discrimination, targeted acts of violence, atrocities as well as committing to the rectification and redress of past policies and misdeeds. There is much more work to do but this apology most certainly is an important step.”

Supervisor Dean Preston also added that “People want an apology. But they also want a commitment not to repeat harms.”

An apology by the Board

Critics noted that while the apology was passed on Tuesday, all it was was an apology, with no new laws or policies behind it. Those that require city resources and funding, they counter, will be much harder to pass.

“The apology by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday was symbolic but had no real teeth behind it,” Legal adviser Richard Weaver told the Globe. “You know, things like redlining are bad, and that’s why no one was voicing any opposition to it. It really was a bad practice, and the city said they were sorry it happened.”

“But going from here, it’s going to be tougher. The city is $728 million in the hole. That’s a big deficit. They can’t afford any huge plans. An apology was free and the right thing to do, so it was win-win. All these other recommendations won’t be so easy. Like the education ones. That requires a lot of money, and San Francisco schools are hundreds of millions of dollars in the red. There is food insecurity and food deserts with not many healthy options too. But guess what? A lot of businesses are leaving the city because of crime and drug usage, and many of those food stores are leaving the city.”

“You know, education, affordable housing, health care, jobs. The vast majority of these recommendations. They’re all tied into a massive number of other problems in San Francisco, and they’re affecting everyone, not just black residents. Supporters of reparations never want to discuss that or the budget issues. That’s not to say that some issues do affect black people more. 38% of the homeless people in San Francisco are black despite only 6% of the city’s population being black. It is disproportionate. But the fixes proponents want would also benefit all homeless people too.”

“The bottom line is that the apology is fine, but with the city’s budget problems and the vast majority of people against cash reparations of any kind, there’s not many more policies they can try and pass without harming the city financially and ignoring other residents in need of help. Others are just impossible without the help of businesses and owners who don’t want to go back into the city in the state that it is in.”

More on other San Francisco reparations proposals will likely come out soon.