California lawmakers unveil sweeping legislative proposals aimed at slavery reparations

California’s task force on reparations for descendants of enslaved Africans first presented their report with recommendations, seen here, in June 2022. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP/FILE) Lawmakers in California have revealed a sweeping set of legislative proposals aimed at providing reparations for state residents who are descendants of enslaved Africans. The California Legislative Black Caucus announced the 2024 Reparations Priority Bill Package Wednesday, which lists 14 measures, including providing a formal apology for “human rights violations and crimes against humanity on African slaves and their descendants.” The package also proposes creating a state-funded grant program to decrease community violence in Black neighborhoods and requiring advanced notification about grocery store closures in underserved and at-risk communities. State lawmakers said in a news release Wednesday that some of the legislation has already been introduced in the state’s General Assembly, or will be introduced during the current legislative session. Lawmakers said some of the measures that have already been introduced include expanding the state’s CROWN Act to ban hair discrimination in sports, creating a grant program that increases high school and college enrollment in STEM-related programs, and prohibiting book bans in prisons without review and oversight from the state’s correctional facilities. The proposed legislative package, however,...