Protests erupted at the California state capitol last week after two stalled reparations proposals for black residents were apparently scrapped.
The development came during the final day of the legislative session in Sacramento on Saturday, following hours of intense lobbying.
About two dozen protesters were seen inside and outside the building that day, chanting for the bills to be passed and chanting for reparations “now.”
Posters and T-shirts with the same message were also displayed as lawmakers made their way to and from the Assembly hall.
Meanwhile, spectators cried all around, but the California Legislative Black Caucus would later reveal in a statement how none of the bills were moving forward, ahead of the midnight deadline.
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A protest erupted at the California state Capitol on Saturday after two stalled reparations proposals for black residents were apparently scrapped.
State Senator Steven Bradford, a member of the caucus, spoke to several local media outlets on Saturday from the Senate floor and revealed what exactly halted the process.
State Senator Steven Bradford, a member of the caucus, spoke to several local media outlets on Saturday from the Senate floor, revealing exactly what stalled the process.
“We’re at the finish line,” Bradford told reporters after personally authoring Senate Bills 1403 and 1331.
“And I think we, as the Black Caucus, owe it to the descendants of slavery, we owe it to Black Californians and Black Americans, to get this legislation through and to get it to the governor’s desk,” he continued.
Asked about the delay, Bradford attributed it to “fear of a veto.”
In a written statement, the Black Caucus added, in part, “The Caucus was unable to engage in the legislative process collectively and only recently became aware of concerns and issues with the Bill.”
Both bills previously had the votes to pass in the Assembly, but Bradford said he and others also found problems with changes to the guidelines proposed by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.
Newsom’s advisers pushed to authorize a deeper study of the problems rather than making immediate restitution, he said, something he and others will not accept.
“We owe it to our forefathers,” the Gardena Democrat said. “And I think in some ways we let them down.”
He blamed changes made by Gavin Newsom, who allegedly pushed to authorize the study of the problems instead of making immediate restitution.
The bills initially sought to create a process for those whose lands were stolen as a result of racism and slavery, while demanding a formal apology from the State.
Both bills, which are expected to be voted on in the state Assembly this week, received new drafts from Newsom on Monday, with the progressive completely changing their purpose.
Newsom had previously set aside $12 million for reparations-related initiatives, supporting the reparations perspective.
The new drafts, seen by Politico, instead proposed sending $6 million to California State University to study how to most effectively implement the strategy to launch the operation, based on recommendations from a state task force.
This comes as many wonder where the money for such a project would come from and how those deserving of payments would be identified.
While some Assembly members would not confirm that it was the requested changes that scuttled the two bills, Bradford confirmed the authenticity of the drafts, saying they did, in fact, come from Newsom’s office.
He went on to explain to reporters how the governor’s office had also allegedly cited costs as a deciding factor, in a year in which California was forced to make $16 billion in cuts, including a 7.95 percent across-the-board reduction in funding for all state agencies.
The bills initially sought to create a process for those whose lands were stolen as a result of racism and slavery, while also requiring a formal apology from the state.
Previously, Newsom had set aside $12 million for reparations-related initiatives, supporting the reparations perspective.
The new drafts, seen by Politico, instead proposed sending $6 million to California State University to study how to most effectively implement the strategy to launch the operation, based on recommendations from a state task force.
This comes as many wonder where the money for such a project would come from and how those deserving of payments would be identified.
While some members of the assembly would not confirm that it was the requested changes that killed the two bills, Bradford, one of the bill’s authors, confirmed the authenticity of the drafts.
The missed 12 a.m. deadline sparked protests at the government building on Saturday as the bills appeared set to be passed.
At the time of this writing, Newsom’s office has yet to comment on the rejection of the two bills, but officials told the Sacramento Bee they were still working with the congressional caucus on both.
The last-minute development left supporters furious who showed up at the Capitol on Saturday hoping to witness history, as the bill’s primary purpose — creating a new Bureau of Freedmen’s Affairs — apparently no longer exists.
“They’re killing the bills because they’re afraid of the governor,” Chris Lodgson, an organizer with the Coalition for a Fair and Equitable California, told the Bee, as spectators shouted and chanted at lawmakers before proceedings were halted.
“We have the money,” he said, dismissing budget concerns Newsom reportedly expressed. “Do we have the will? Do we have the courage?”
The bills, for now, remain in limbo, years after the reparations movement first gained momentum in the United States following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.
Supporters say it is time for the United States to compensate its black residents for the injustices of the historic transatlantic slave trade, Jim Crow segregation and inequalities that persist to this day, though the potential sums are outrageous.
Lawmakers in Washington are currently seeking at least $14 trillion for a federal proposal to “eliminate the racial wealth gap” between black and white Americans, though critics say payments to select citizens will inevitably stoke divisions.
The concept has also raised questions about why American Indians and others do not receive their own aid, even though $1.3 billion was granted to 176 tribes and bands in 1946.
Between the 15th and 19th centuries, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported by European ships and traders, and sold into slavery.
Those who survived the brutal journey ended up working on plantations in the Americas, including in Brazil, the Caribbean and the United States, while others profited from their labor.
Descendants of these victims with roots in California would be the ones who would have to receive the payments, if the original version of the bill is ever revived.
However, a survey of 6,000 registered California voters last year found that only 23 percent supported cash reparations, while 59 percent opposed it.
Activists have also been divided over the best strategy to implement them, after years of deliberation, while aiming to deliver tangible benefits to those descended from slaves.
Now that the deadline has passed, fans will have to wait until 2025 for any further updates.
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