In California, a Berkeley school district pushes for reparations for its African-American community

Open this photo in gallery: Chip Moore, a local leader from Berkeley, Calif., who is a co-chair of the district’s reparations task force.Nathan VanderKlippe/The Globe and Mail Nearly four years after the murder of George Floyd led to demands for bold new action against racism in the United States, proponents of those changes are struggling against a resurgent backlash to measures intended to promote diversity and racial equity. But in a California town synonymous with historical demands for Black empowerment, local leaders are exploring a new way to expand the boundaries of racial reconciliation. The Berkeley Unified School District, which oversees 20 public schools on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, wants to deliver reparations to African-American members of its community. A task force created by the school district is weighing questions such as who should receive reparations, what they should receive and how the district should pay. Among the options being considered by the task force is pushing local voters to approve a new parcel tax for financing cash reparations payments, an idea with some school board support. The effort is being driven by community members who see the school district as an institution more capable of taking...