Reparations measures stall across US, but advocates undeterred

By Michela Moscufo (Reuters) -After California state legislators passed bills addressing the legacy of slavery and racial discrimination, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the most ambitious of the reparations proposals. The setback last month followed turmoil at Harvard over that elite university’s plans to make amends for historic ties to slavery and a lawsuit challenging an Illinois city’s reparations payments. But advocates say they are undeterred. Shortly before the California legislative session ended this summer, a state Senate reparations bill on land restitution proposed by state Sen. Steven Bradford passed 56-0. But the Black Caucus blocked votes on two other proposals in that package — one creating a fund and the third an agency to determine who would be eligible for reparations. “It’s a shame,” Bradford said. “To be this close to the finish line, and not at least have a vote.” The Black Caucus blocked the bills because the proposed agency, not the legislature, would have had oversight, members wrote on X. Governor Gavin Newsom said when he vetoed the land restitution bill that it could not be implemented without Bradford’s other proposals. Newsom signed legislation the Black Caucus had made separately, including measures banning discrimination based on natural hairstyles....