Bill Seeks Apology for Chattel Slavery as Part of California’s Reparations Legislative Package

SACRAMENTO, California – Los Angeles area Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-South Los Angeles) has introduced AB 3089, a formal apology for California’s role in chattel slavery. Specifically, the bill would formally have the State of California recognize and accept responsibility for all of the “harms and atrocities committed by the state, its representatives, and entities under its jurisdiction who promoted, facilitated, enforced, and permitted the institution of chattel slavery and the enduring legacy of ongoing badges and incidents from which the systemic structures of discrimination have come to exist.” The bill also calls for the apology to be memorialized in a signed letter from Legislative leadership and the Governor. It requires this letter to be permanently displayed for the public in the State Capitol building. “For two years as a member of the California Reparations Task Force, I learned about the harms that Jim Crow-styled laws and policies California adopted and instituted caused Black communities since the state’s inception,” said Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer. “African Americans in California have for generations been purposely denied access to programs and services that would have otherwise lifted many in the areas of economics, education, and civic leadership. The hinderance of growth these laws caused deserves to...