Black California lawmakers introducing package of reparations bills

By Brad Brooks (Reuters) – Members of California’s Legislative Black Caucus on Wednesday will detail a package of 14 reparations bills they are introducing to right historic wrongs carried out against the Black community. The bills are meant to be the first step in a multi-year effort. Among several issues, they would compensate people whose property was taken in race-based cases of eminent domain, seek an apology from the governor and legislature for human rights violations, and fund community-based programs to decrease violence in Black communities. But none of the bills being proposed call for cash reparations to be paid, which has garnered criticism from some members of the Black community. “While many only associate direct cash payments with reparations the true meaning of the word, to repair, involves much more,” Assemblywoman Lori D. Wilson, Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, said in a written statement. The 14 bills are the first legislative action from an extensive 1,100-page report delivered in June to lawmakers by the California reparations task force, a group created by a state bill in 2020. The task force worked for two years on its report, which urged legislators to take action on over 100 recommendations....