The reparations program the state of California is currently implementing is going to cost a staggering $800 billion, according to The Daily Caller. The nearly $1 trillion program is designed to give money to descendants of enslaved African Americans. The annual budget of California is a total of $300 billion.
The 2.8 million African Americans living in the state currently make up around six percent of its population, according to American Pigeon. Earlier in March, the task force headed with determining the specifics of the program boosted the payments to eligible blacks from $220,000 to $360,000, according to The New York Post.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber does not seem to be concerned about how the state, which is already reportedly strapped for cash, will pay the exorbitant amount. Instead, she says that because California admitted its sins, there is a “way forward.” But critics bring up the fact that California never practiced slavery.
The task force studying reparations has until July 1 to come up with a final cost, which would include those who had lost land or businesses related to government actions that were racially motivated. The force was created after Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom drafted legislation that issued a formal apology to black residents for the evils of slavery. Financial compensation is intended to alleviate the burden that black Americans had to endure because of systemic oppression.
Other institutions are planning to give black Americans reparations as well. The Berkeley Unified School District has reportedly created a committee to deliberate what that would look like. The school board’s president said that the reparations are needed to make up for the U.S.’s 150 years of slavery.
A San Francisco task force reportedly drafted a plan to give black residents $5 million per individual, amongst a host of other recommendations.
