Opinion
Lawmakers in California – a free state that never had slaves – have introduced a comprehensive slavery reparations package, a series of bills that mark a first-in-the-nation attempt to turn the concept into law.
The legislative package includes measures such as restoring property taken through eminent domain and providing state funding for specific groups. It tackles a wide range of issues, from criminal justice reforms to housing segregation.
Noticeably absent is any kind of cash payments for descendants of slavery.
Assemblymember Lori Wilson, chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, downplayed the significance of the lack of direct funding.
“While many only associate direct cash payments with reparations, the true meaning of the word, to repair, involves much more,” she said in a statement. “We need a comprehensive approach to dismantling the legacy of slavery and systemic racism.”
Slavery was abolished in 1865 and no person living today has ever suffered under its terrible legacy.
RELATED: San Francisco Board Expresses ‘Unanimous’ Support For Racist $5 Million Reparations Payments
Why The California Reparations Package Doesn’t Provide Cash Payments
Make no mistake, this reparations package doesn’t include cash payments because the left-wing cesspool of California can’t afford it.
The state is currently facing a $68 billion budget deficit.
Even knowing that, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors last March expressed “unanimous” support for a race-based reparations plan that included $5 million payments for every eligible black resident.
They also wanted a guaranteed annual income of $97,000 for 250 years and homes “for just $1 a family.”
Even the state task force advised that each of the roughly 2.5 million members of the black population receive approximately $277,000 each – a total price tag of about $34 billion.
This legislative package didn’t include those things. But there is a provision that would give some monetary relief.
The package states a goal to: “Restore property taken during raced-based uses of eminent domain to its original owners or provide another effective remedy where appropriate, such as restitution or compensation.”
Some advocates of the racist reparations concept – which is designed to buy votes – weren’t happy.
RELATED: Kathy Hochul Blasted For Signing Bill To Study Reparations In New York: ‘Set Back Race Relations For No Good Reason’
Reparations Are Not Popular
The other reason this California reparations package might not have included cash payments is because the vast majority of Americans oppose it and recognize it as an unaffordable pipe dream.
Even Democrats.
Governor Gavin Newsom, who would do anything for a tub of Brycreem let alone votes, refused to publicly support payments recommended by a California task force.
“Dealing with legacy is about much more than cash payments,” he said.
Except, no matter what they’re saying publicly, the people behind the reparations push are not concerned about legacy first and foremost. They’re concerned about money.
Polling shows that three-quarters or more of white adults oppose reparations, as do a majority of Latinos and Asian Americans. Even in deep blue California voters overwhelmingly object to the idea of cash payments to make up for slavery.
There is no more nakedly racist legislation than a call for reparations based on skin color and a faux notion that anybody in America today has ever suffered from slavery.
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