{"id":3285,"date":"2022-03-31T06:07:45","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T06:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linksus.net\/california-task-force-reparations-for-direct-descendants-of-enslaved-people-only-calmatters\/"},"modified":"2022-03-31T06:07:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T06:07:45","slug":"california-task-force-reparations-for-direct-descendants-of-enslaved-people-only-calmatters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/2022\/03\/31\/california-task-force-reparations-for-direct-descendants-of-enslaved-people-only-calmatters\/","title":{"rendered":"California task force: Reparations for direct descendants of enslaved people only – CalMatters"},"content":{"rendered":"

CalMatters<\/a>
\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia, explained\t\t\t\t
In summary<\/strong>
California\u2019s first-in-the-nation task force to identify reparations for African Americans voted Tuesday to limit eligibility to those who can trace their lineage.
After more than six hours of debate Tuesday, California\u2019s reparations task force<\/a> voted that only Black Californians who can prove a direct lineage to enslaved ancestors will be eligible for the statewide \u2014 and first-in-the nation \u2014 initiative to address the harms and enduring legacy of slavery.\u00a0
The nine-member task force voted 5-4 in favor of defining eligibility for reparations based on lineage \u201cdetermined by an individual being an African American descendant of a chattel enslaved person or the descendant of a free Black person living in the US prior to the end of the 19th century,\u201d the motion read.
An earlier amendment to the motion pushed for a broader definition of eligibility that would have included all 2.6 million African Americans in California, with \u201cspecial consideration\u201d for those with direct lineage to enslaved persons. That amendment failed.\u00a0
Two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation giving \u201cspecial consideration\u201d to Black Americans<\/a> who are direct descendants to enslaved people. Authored by former Assemblymember Shirley Weber, now the California secretary of state, the bill also established a two-year reparations task force to study and develop a plan on what reparations may look like.
The task force is expected to release a reparations proposal in June 2023 with recommendations for the Legislature.\u00a0
While the scope of reparations will be determined in the coming months, many task force members said they expect cash payments to be one part of the proposal as well as a formal apology. The task force said this eligibility determination will help economists tasked with quantifying the amount of reparations owed.
\u201cThe system that folks are advocating for here, where we splice things up, where only one small slice benefits, will not abate the harms of racism.\u201d
This vote establishes that going forward, only those Black Californians who are able to trace their lineage back to enslaved ancestors will be eligible for the state\u2019s reparations.
Other Black Californians \u2014 such as Black immigrants \u2014 will not be eligible.\u00a0
Kamilah Moore, task force chairperson, said that not going with a lineage-based approach would \u201caggrieve the victims of slavery.\u201d\u00a0
Others, like Los Angeles-based civil rights lawyer Lisa Holder, argued against a strict lineage approach. \u201cWe must make sure we include present day and future harms,\u201d Holder said. \u201cThe system that folks are advocating for here, where we splice things up, where only one small slice benefits, will not abate the harms of racism.\u201d
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Cheryl Grills, a committee member and a clinical psychologist at Loyola Marymount University, also said a lineage-based approach would be \u201cdivisive\u201d and \u201canother win for white supremacy.\u201d
Don Tamaki, the only non-Black member of the Reparations Task Force, said that during the Japanese American Redress Movement \u2013 which sought reparations and an apology for Japanese internment during World War II \u2013 organizers faced similar questions about determining eligibility.\u00a0
\u201cIt\u2019s rough justice,\u201d Tamaki said. \u201cWe had to exclude groups too within our community \u2026 practical and very difficult decisions were made.\u201d\u00a0
Today\u2019s decision will mean that a fraction of the state\u2019s 2.6 million Black residents \u2014 who make up 6.5% of the population \u2014 will benefit from reparations. While Black people are a minority in the state, they are overrepresented in the state\u2019s carceral system, with Black men making up 28.5% of the state\u2019s prison population, and nearly 40% of the state\u2019s unhoused population.\u00a0
Excluded will be Black immigrants in California \u2014 many of whom come from East and West Africa and the Caribbean and make up roughly 178,000 people, according to 2014 data from the Black Alliance for Just Immigration<\/a>.
California\u2019s fugitive slave law allowed enslaved people to remain under bondage as long as they were later deported to the South.
Tuesday\u2019s task force also heard from 10 genealogists about why a lineage-based model is significant and how individuals might go about establishing their relationship with enslaved ancestors.\u00a0
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Evelyn McDowell, the chairperson of the Sons & Daughters of the United States Middle Passage, said that it is \u201cabsolutely possible\u201d for Black Californians to trace their lineage by determining the birth year of a great or great-great grandparent in the South \u2014 and that would likely be sufficient evidence for eligibility.\u00a0
Other genealogists, such as Hollis Gentry, also support a lineage-based approach, but Gentry cautions that this process will be time consuming and costly and suggests enlisting public, state, and private libraries for assistance.
Jessica Aiwuyor, the founder of the National Black Cultural Information Trust, also warns against methods of establishing lineage that are \u201cinvasive,\u201d such as DNA testing and worries that those with limited access to technology and those with disabilities may have trouble participating.\u00a0
Last month Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of UC Berkeley\u2019s law school, testified that establishing lineage in a \u201crace-neutral fashion\u201d is less likely to be struck down by the courts. Many people that called in for public comment, who identified themselves as direct descendants of chattel slavery, also supported this approach.\u00a0
Over the last 10 months, the task force has discussed how the legacy of Jim Crow laws, redlining and housing discrimination, police brutality, environmental racism, and many other factors have led to systemic discrimination towards Black people in California.\u00a0
Though California joined the Union as a \u201cfree state\u201d under the Compromise of 1850, the state\u2019s fugitive slave law allowed enslaved people to remain under bondage as long as they were later deported to the South.\u00a0
A California Association of Realtors study found fewer than one in five Black and Latino households were able to buy a median-priced, single-family home, underscoring California\u2019s income inequality and high housing costs.
Nearly 275,000 Black Californians have left high-cost cities, often for safer, suburban enclaves. Familiar obstacles follow.
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLil Kalish\u2019s reporting, from Myanmar to the deserts of southern California, has appeared in the Guardian, LAist, Bitch Media, ARTnews, and other outlets. Before joining CalMatters, they were a fellow…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore by Lil Kalish\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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CalMatters California, explained In summaryCalifornia\u2019s first-in-the-nation task force to identify reparations for African Americans voted Tuesday to limit eligibility to those who can trace their lineage.After more than six hours of debate Tuesday, California\u2019s reparations task force voted that only Black Californians who can prove a direct lineage to enslaved ancestors will be eligible for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":869,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3285"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3285\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}