By Lindsey Holden
California lawmakers next year face huge political and financial challenges as they seriously consider reparations for Black descendants of slaves.
While Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative lawmakers tend to agree there’s a great historic injustice that needs to be righted, implementing any reparations policy faces these flashpoints:
- The budget. The $68 billion state budget gap could make the already daunting task of paying for any reparations a lot tougher.
- The voters. They’re about to start casting primary election ballots in a just a few weeks, and Californians have mixed opinions about how to handle the issue.
- The governor. As Gov. Gavin Newsom actively seeks to boost his national stature, will he be eager to defend reparations?
The Legislative Black Caucus next month plans to unveil the first handful of bills addressing recommendations the state’s reparations task force spent years developing.
Although the group’s proposals were wide-ranging, the idea of cash payments attracted the most attention. This was especially true after task force advisers suggested Black Californians are owed hundreds of billions of dollars due to inequities they have suffered in almost every facet of life.
Source: Sacramento Bee