Reparations Bills Pass First Hearings In California Senate

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman April 22, 2024 The multiple bills would establish agencies to oversee the allocation of reparations, as well as correcting the injustice of eminent domain. New reparations bills passed their first hearing in the California Senate. If passed, the bills would implement reparations policy and address systemic eminent domain that displaced primarily Black residents. The author of the bills, State Sen. Steven Bradford of Gardena, stated that the policies are “overdue” to correct racially-motivated displacement by the state’s government. The Sacramento Beereported his thoughts on the multiple bills’ passing. “This is not a handout or a charity of any sort,” said Bradford. “It’s what is owed, what is promised, what is 160 years overdue.” California historically took private property owned by its Black and Brown residents for racially-motivated reasons. Senate Bill 1050 means to correct this injustice, and passed 6-1 during a vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee. “The power of eminent domain has been repeatedly used to move Black and brown people off their land, to destroy homes and to devastate the opportunity for families to build generational wealth,” explained Bradford. Cities from San Francisco to Los Angeles used eminent domain to take away minorities’ ability to...