San Francisco Reparations Committee Proposes That Each Black Longterm Resident Receive $5M and Debt Forgiveness
A reparations committee in San Francisco proposes paying every longtime Black resident $5 million and debt forgiveness after a long time of “systematic repression.”
Final month, the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee launched its draft report on reparations – not for slavery, since California was not a slave state however “to address the public policies explicitly created to subjugate Black people in San Francisco by upholding and expanding the intent and legacy of chattel slavery.”
The draft states, “While neither San Francisco nor California formally adopted the institution of chattel slavery, the tenets of segregation, white supremacy and systematic repression and exclusion of Black people were codified through legal and extralegal actions, social codes, and judicial enforcement.”
An entire checklist of monetary solutions for Black San Francisco residents is included within the draft plan, together with a one-time, lump-sum payout of $5 million to every eligible particular person.
“A lump sum payment would compensate the affected population for the decades of harms that they have experienced and will redress the economic and opportunity losses that Black San Franciscans have endured, collectively, as the result of both intentional decisions and unintended harms perpetuated by City policy,” the draft states.
The candidate should be 18 years previous and establish as Black or African American on official data for at the least ten years to qualify for this system. Moreover, they need to meet two out of eight extra necessities, which they might choose from an inventory that features “Born in San Francisco between 1940 and 1996 and has proof of residency in San Francisco for at least 13 years” and “Personally, or the direct descendant of someone, incarcerated by the failed War on Drugs.”
In response to the draft, the plan additionally calls on town to complement lower-income recipients’ revenue to replicate the Space Median Revenue, which is round $97,000, yearly for at the least 250 years.
“Racial disparities across all metrics have led to a significant racial wealth gap in the City of San Francisco,” it argues. “By elevating income to match AMI, Black people can better afford housing and achieve a better quality of life.”
Moreover, the plan goals to create “a comprehensive debt forgiveness program” that may forgive all qualifying people’ bank card debt, faculty mortgage debt, mortgage debt, and so on.
“Black households are more likely to hold costlier, riskier debt and are more likely to have outstanding student loan debt,” the draft explains. “When this is combined with lower household incomes, it can create an inescapable cycle of debt. Eliminating this debt gives Black households an opportunity to build wealth.”
In June, the committee plans to submit the ultimate draft proposal to Mayor London Breed, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and the San Francisco Human Rights Fee.
“There are so many efforts that result in incredible reports that just end up gathering dust on a shelf,” stated Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin. “We cannot let this be one of them.”