At US$5 million (£4.04 million) per eligible person, it is the largest slavery redress since the end of the American Civil War.
A city-appointed committee in San Francisco is recommending that tens of thousands of people receive that amount as a grant to offset the legacy of “maintaining and expanding the legacy of slavery.”
A 60-page report by the committee said that while California never formally instituted slavery, city policies had for decades “codified the systematic oppression and marginalization of black people.”
San Francisco’s board of directors must vote this summer on whether to accept the proposals in part or in full. But the trial is already proving to be a major test for San Francisco’s notoriously liberal citizens, who have recently swung to the right in response to rising crime and homelessness.
Eric McDonnell, chair of the African American Reparations Advisory Committee (AARAC), said I Amends were a way of telling black San Franciscans that “we know we have debts that we will make every effort to pay.”
He said, “This is a pivotal, substantial moment for San Francisco to consciously and consciously embrace its history, thereby creating the opportunity for real, substantial healing for all.”
The 15-member AARAC was formed in late 2020 after the death of George Floyd sparked a nationwide vote on race issues in America.
In the case of San Francisco, the report says that it was a Ku Klux Klan stronghold and that during the “urban renewal” era of the 1950s, black residents were barred from buying houses.
Black people were effectively barred from urban jobs for decades, and entire black neighborhoods were devastated. The effects have been reflected across generations and are particularly galling in one of the country’s wealthiest cities.
Although more than 60 billionaires live in San Francisco, there are 7,000 homeless people, around 40 percent of whom are black, although African Americans make up only 5 percent of the population.
Black people used to make up about 15 percent of the city, but they have been driven out by the factors that the indemnity seeks to make up for.
The last attempt of this magnitude came during the Restoration in the 1860s with Abraham Lincoln’s promise to give 100 acres of land to formerly enslaved people—a promise rescinded by his successor as President, Andrew Jackson.
Mr McDonnell said: “Now we are generations behind and the majority of black people live in poverty because the path that would have led them elsewhere has never been restored.”
The committee came up with the $5 million figure in a way that “was less scientific than it might suggest,” McDonnell said.
“In a very simple business environment, you need capital to rebuild. We did some rough calculations on housing, access to health care and your basic needs… We landed on this number. There have been discussions about making it higher. We agreed on $5 million no matter how hard we have to fight for it,” he said.
Other measures include increasing the income of black people from lower-income households for 250 years until they reach the region’s median income, which stood at $97,000 in 2021.
The report also proposes debt relief aimed at paying off “all educational, personal, credit card and short-term loan debt” and an expansion of black-run banks.
There should also be sweeping reforms of the education system, health care system and criminal justice system, including a bursary for those “at risk of being involved in the judiciary”.
To qualify, residents must be at least 18 years old and have identified themselves as Black or African American on public documents for 10 years.
You must also have been born or immigrated to San Francisco between 1940 and 1996 and have lived in the city for the past 13 years. Another way to qualify is to be a direct descendant of someone imprisoned by what the report called the “failed war on drugs.”
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San Francisco has a widespread homelessness problem that is exacerbated by the high cost of living in the area (Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty)
It sounds transformative, but as Mr. McDonnell admits, the first question to answer is who will pay for it?
San Francisco is expected to face a $728 million budget deficit over the next two fiscal years as the city struggles to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. But Mr McDonnell says it is for the political leaders, not the committee, to find out.
He said, “As victims, we shouldn’t take on the responsibility of helping those who caused the damage find out.” We don’t see that as our primary responsibility.
“There are tax implications, there are incentives for companies to invest in these communities and the reallocation of existing resources. There are many levers to pull and we need to have the political will to do it.”
The committee’s report comes at a time when other states, like New York, are considering making amends as well. California has set up its own reparations committee, but it has not yet made any formal recommendations.
Members said they are considering recommending that black Californians receive $569 billion in housing discrimination compensation between 1933 and 1977, or $223,200 per person.
Mr McDonnell sees San Francisco as a groundbreaking place for other countries grappling with their own legacy of colonialism, including the UK, which has faced its own racial issue following the death of George Floyd.
Ediberto Roman, a law professor at Florida International University College of Law and a longtime proponent of redress, said California could lead to change in Britain.
He said efforts like the one in San Francisco “may lead to a healing that is long overdue.”
However, not everyone is convinced of San Francisco’s plan. John Dennis, leader of the San Francisco Republican Party, said that if just 10,000 people received $5 million each, the cost would be $50 billion.
That would be three and a half times the city’s annual budget of about $14 billion, Mr. Dennis said.
He said: “It seems to me that this is a publicity stunt to divert attention from liberal policies that are harming black residents.”
“The majority of the homeless are black men, which is an example of how the city has failed the black community.
“For $50 billion, we could build mansions for every homeless person in San Francisco. I’m not even exaggerating. There’s about 5,000 per homeless person here, so that’s $10 million per home.
“This idea is an amazing insult to our intelligence.
“We have companies migrating in droves, the commercial real estate market is in free fall, which is affecting the tax base. The city has historically had a massive deficit, housing prices are falling at the fastest rate I’ve seen, and we have problems with robbery and violent crime here.”
As a comparison to the Reparations Committee’s recommendations, the San Francisco board of directors apologized to its 900,000-strong Chinese community last February.
The resolution deplored “systemic and structural discrimination,” including restrictions on Chinese laundries and the use of traditional Chinese tools — but there were no efforts to make reparations to those affected.
