California to Issue Apology for Slavery as Newsom Signs Reparations Bills

Overall, though, the first year of reparations proposals failed to live up to the expectations of many reparations supporters. The bill that many reparations advocates considered the centerpiece of California’s initial attempt to repair harm endured by Black Californians failed to reach Newsom’s desk. SB 1403 would have formed the California American Freedman’s Affairs Agency to administer reparations programs. At the beginning of the legislative session, Wilson and the leadership of the California Legislative Black Caucus prioritized achievability over ambition. The caucus pursued meaningful and realizable measures, not controversial and potentially transformative ideas like direct cash payments. California Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson, representing the 11th District, is also the chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. (Beth LaBerge/KQED) Success, Wilson said in the spring, would mean winning approval for all 14 of the CLBC’s original reparations bills in the Legislature. Nine bills ultimately passed the Assembly and Senate. Newsom signed six into law, including AB 3089, an official apology for state officials who promoted and advanced slavery in California’s earliest days and for “perpetuating the harms African Americans have faced.” “The State of California accepts responsibility for the role we played in promoting, facilitating, and permitting the institution of slavery,...