California pushes forward on slavery reparations

The California Senate passed three reparations bills on Tuesday that aim to atone for the state’s legacy of slavery and discrimination against African Americans. They include one that would create the California Freedmen Affairs Agency to help Black families research their lineage and confirm their eligibility for any future restitution passed by the state. The other bills would create a fund for reparations programs and compensate Black families for property that the government unjustly seized from them using eminent domain. The proposals now head to the state Assembly. The three bills are part of a package of more than a dozen proposals introduced by the California Legislative Black Caucus earlier this year, after California’s Reparations Task Force last year sent a report to lawmakers with recommendations after spending two years studying how the state could atone for its legacy of racism and discrimination against Black Americans. State Sen. Steven Bradford, a Democrat who authored the bills and served on the task force, said California “bears great responsibility” for “grave injustices” against Black Californians. The creation of the new agency “is the first step California can take in righting these wrongs,” he said. “If you can inherit generational wealth, you can...