Local activists react to recommendations for reparations in California

The California Reparations Tasks force voted to approve recommendations for reparations payments to Black Californians.

As part of California’s continued efforts to pass Assembly Bill 3121 (AB 3121), the Reparations Task Force hosted a meeting in Oakland over the weekend to study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans.

Here are some possible estimates of reparations for Black Californians recommended by the task force:

• The estimated value of payment for health care disparities: $13,619 for each year of residency, based on 71-year life expectancy.
• Estimated payment for housing discrimination: $148,099 or $3,366 for each year between 1933 and 1977 spent as a state resident.
• Estimated payment for mass incarceration and overpolicing: $115,260 or $2,352 for each year of residency in California during the 49 years between 1971 and 2020.

"Housing, I mean, I don't think that anybody in California would disagree if they knew just how much that's affected people's ability to get housing, right," says Dr. Mzilikazi Koné, a Political Science Professer at College of the Desert. "It's not a question of groups, not trying, or groups not wanting, but that there are systemic issues. That means that happens all across the system that keep people out. Okay, this is an attempt for us to move forward and to write pass harms. And I'm in support of this, I hope that this gets traction in the state of California, because this is just a recommendation."

A local Activist shares that he knows he is a descendant of slaves and reparations are deserved to African American / Black people. "It's been difficult as far as history is concerned, because you don't get all of the history of our people," says Jarvis Crawford. "And the only history that we pretty much show here in America is that we were slaves, not showing the great things that we did before slavery before we even came to America. But even the great things that we've done since we've been in America, African Americans, we are Americans. We are just of African descent. But we love to be treated and showcase just like everybody else in America and so on. This is going to be something great now to see that folks that were forced here from Africa that are now here in America can live the American dream."

The recommendations will be presented at the task force’s next meeting before being presented to the Legislature by the deadline of July 1.