SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — California is leading the way, looking into what restitution might look like for descendants of slaves.
The state’s appointed reparations task force met Wednesday in person for the first time since its inaugural meeting last year. The gathering at San Francisco’s historic Third Baptist Church concluded the first of two days of meetings with an emotional call to make reparations a reality.
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“Everybody in here is a part of history,” Chris Lodgson of the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California, a reparations advocacy group, said before the meeting. “I couldn’t be more excited and blessed, really, to be here.”
In a dramatic vote last month, the task force split 5-4 to limit reparations to people who can show they are descended from enslaved or free Black people in the U.S. as of the 19th century. Those who favor broader eligibility says lineage-based reparations unfairly shuts out Black people who have also suffered systemic discrimination.
But Josiah Williams, a member of the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California in Oakland, said the vote validated African Americans who have striven throughout history to make society more equitable for everyone else, only to watch as some minority groups received compensation but not them.
“This isn’t about excluding anyone. It’s about making sure we get what we need for our own people. Like, we’re just trying to breathe,” said Williams. “We’re just trying to get repair for the first time.”
Pastors from the Bay Area and beyond also gave fiery speeches demanding California lead the way, in what’s already a first of its kind mission and advancement in the country, for reparations.
“This black community is determined now to fight back. We are not going to back down on reparations,” said San Francisco NAACP President Rev. Dr. Amos Brown, the co-chair of the task force.
His words were echoed by Cheryl Thornton.
“We deserve a seat at the table, and we are still waiting for our seat,” Thornton said.
Advocates say compensation could include free college, housing assistance, and grants to churches and organizations.
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“It’s not as simple as giving a check,” said Rev. Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes III. “We have to look at reconstructing systems so that we have equality of opportunity. There’s so much that goes into the concept of reparations.”
Source: sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com.