SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Reparations Task Force wrapped up two years of hard work last week with a comprehensive 1,100-page report detailing the harms of slavery on Black California, recommendations for financial compensation, and the creation of a myriad of programs and policies. to repair historical errors.
The report, compiled through exhaustive research by politicians, historians, and economists and influenced by community feedback during 12 public hearings, is encyclopedic in size. He has been hailed by task force members as a model for other states to follow in seeking redress.
For two members of the task force, that was the easy part. Now a daunting challenge looms.
Sen. Steven Bradford and Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer are also members of the California Legislature, which has been tasked with digesting the report and finalizing recommendations that will go to Governor Gavin Newsom for it to become law. The really difficult part for Bradford and Jones-Sawyer will be getting support from their colleagues for the repairs.
The difficulty is not lost on the two veteran politicians whose two-year presence on the task force gives them unparalleled insight into the battle ahead.
“Absolutely, it’s not going to be easy,” Jones-Sawyer said. “But we are ready for the fight.”
Step One: Get all members of the state Assembly to read the full report, presented in hardcover format. That alone could be a significant hurdle to overcome, Bradford said.
“I think the integrity of the report will have an impact, if they read it,” he told NBC News. “And that’s the big challenge, making sure all my colleagues read it. Even reading it, you have to believe it, you have to accept it, and then you have to be willing to change your heart and mind.”
the depth of This reportCalled “a book of truth” by task force member Lisa Holder, it makes a full case for reparations as a way to make amends for California’s role in black oppression through holdovers, the policies, attitude and discrimination of slavery. The recommendations in the final report provide the “academic foundation,” task force member Don Tamaki said, for advancing reforms in health care, housing, criminal justice, education and other areas “with continuing racial disparities and persistent.” Task force members believe the power of the report will be significant.
“In looking at this, you have to admit your mistakes first, and that’s the first challenge we have,” Bradford said. “And then it’s about finding real atonement, real policies that help address some of the harm done to Black people in California.”
He described the “appetite” for reparations among assembly members as “moderate at best.” He pointed out that while states like Tennessee, Alabama and others voted last year to remove slavery and indentured servitude as punishment for crimes from their state constitutions, the California Assembly failed to even vote on a similar measure.
Rather, state legislators squashed an amendment to eliminate the “contract easement”.
“We still have it in our Constitution,” Bradford said. “We had colleagues who did not want to participate in that vote. So, by no stretch of the imagination do I think this will be a piece of cake. It will take a real massage and networking, working with our colleagues to get them to read the report first, accept what’s there and tackle the legislation to address this.”
Task force members champion their colleagues’ ability to get things done.
Tamaki said that Bradford and Jones-Sawyer “understand that they have a heavy burden of leading the process of turning recommendations into bills…But they are two highly experienced legislators and have lifetime experience on many of the issues addressed. in the final report. Not only are they well connected with their legislative colleagues, but both have served as chairs of the Legislative Black Caucus, which will be crucial in leading this effort.”
He pointed out that the support outside the state Assembly, from citizens and organizations, will also be essential. For this, more than 330 organizations have endorsed the work of the task force and are calling for redress, including major organizations such as the Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento and Alameda county bar associations, the California Welfare Foundation and the Weingart Foundation, the National Urban League , the NAACP, and many groups in social services, civil rights, faith, academia, and other sectors.
Because of the details of the report and the discussion involved around it, Bradford said, Newsom likely won’t reach an agreement on the legislation until next year. Cheryl Grills, a clinical psychologist and task force member, said that going forward, Bradford and Jones-Sawyer will need the help of the public to help influence the Legislature.
“This is a fight for the heart and soul and the integrity and authenticity of American society,” he said. “So the real work starts now. And it does not depend only on our legislators. Community, it’s your turn at bat. We need you to monitor, report and instill in your Legislature and your neighbors, your broader community that the work of giving back, the work of repair is the work of American society, and any diminishing of the recommendations for the repair will not be accepted. “
