A head of California’s reparations task force has ordered taxpayers to pay their “sin bill” and pay out because of “what was done to black people.”
Dr. Amos Brown, vice president of the California Reparations Task Force, said people need to “relax” about the group’s sweeping proposals, which include handing out cash payments to black residents for up to $1. .2 million.
“You can’t put a dollar sign on what’s been done to black people,” he added. FoxNews. “Our sin bill in this nation has been so high, and because of the long years of doing nothing, the interest has increased.”
Brown’s comments come weeks after his task force sent its reparations recommendations to state lawmakers, but California Governor Gavin Newsom has so far declined to say whether he would support them.
Reverend Amos Brown says reparations are needed because taxpayers must pay for ‘what was done to black people’
Amos, a civil rights activist who also sits on San Francisco’s reparations task force, said the huge payments are needed as a “slavery bill.” Discrimination. Bullying. To terrorize black people.
His San Francisco task force previously released its own recommendations of $5 million in paydays, a guaranteed income of $97,000, and the elimination of all debt.
While admitting that the titanic sums mean the state should pay what it “can afford”, the activist insisted that officials might even consider following a payment system similar to that of the Germany after World War II.
“If you can’t pay for all this, say what you can pay. That’s the point,” he continued. “If we can’t pay it now, we do it like the Germans did – pay it in installments.”
California’s push for reparations payments has been heavily criticized for a lack of clarity on how it would be funded, with some critics also noting that it was never a slave-owning state when the practice ran rampant. in the country.
However, Amos argued that the state still had a “debt” to pay its black residents.
“Unfortunately, this evil group called the Ku Klux Klan in California was founded here in San Francisco,” he added.
“So San Francisco’s hands are not clean. They have been complicit in this diabolical system… We need to stop making excuses and come up with a reasonable plan that shows we have good intentions.
The California Reparations Task Force was led by President Khamilah Moore, left, and Vice President Dr. Amos Brown, right
California reparations hearings have been contentious amid claims by black residents that million-dollar payments won’t be enough
Many in the Golden State openly support the idea of reparations and the work done by the task force. Morris Griffin is pictured here holding a sign in favor of reparations
Amos’ tirade comes weeks after California’s reparations task force approved sweeping recommendations that could give black residents up to $1.2 million apiece.
If enacted, the maximum sum would be available to residents who have lived in the state until age 71. Its final report is due to be sent to lawmakers by July 1, where it will provide compensation estimates calculated by several economists. the group is working with.
The amount these repairs would cost the state was not stated in the report, but previous calculations by economists had predicted that it could cost around $800 billion, more than double the annual budget of around $300 billion. billion dollars from California.
The cost breakdown was done by assessing the damage caused by different forms of discrimination over the years, including $2,352 lost per person per year to over-policing and mass incarceration of black communities.
Residents who lived in the state between 1933 and 1977 could also receive $3,366 per person per year for “discriminatory lending and zoning.”
And $13,619 could be paid per person per year of California residency for “health injustices and discrimination,” alongside $77,000 per person for losses and devaluations of black-owned businesses.
Reverend Tony Pierce slammed the panel for not being ambitious enough with the repair plan
Despite the huge sums announced by the authorities, some residents expressed their anger against the committee after they felt that the potential windfall was not enough.
At a meeting earlier this month following the task force’s recommendations, the Reverend Tony Pierce was filmed punching the proposal. He argued the number should be in the $200 million range due to America’s “broken promise” of 40 acres and a mule to newly freed slaves.
He said, “You know the numbers should be equivocal compared to what an acre was then. We were given 40, okay? We were given 40 acres.
“You know what this number is. You keep trying to talk about it now, but you research slavery and you don’t say anything about slavery, nothing.
“So the equivocal number from the 1860s for 40 acres to today is $200 million for every African American.”
He then denounced the panel for not being ambitious enough with the reparations plan.
“You’re not supposed to be scared,” he added. “You’re just supposed to tell the truth. You are not supposed to be the guardians. You’re supposed to say what people want and hear people.
The $5 million recommendation to San Francisco residents was also noted in the controversial hearing, with one resident demanding the fortune be turned over to residents across the state.
The final report is due to be sent to lawmakers by July 1 where it will provide compensation estimates calculated by several economists the group works with.
Kamilah Moore, a restorative justice specialist and lawyer, chaired the task force and has previously said she plans to be as “radical as possible” when it comes to deciding who will receive reparations and how much.
“$1.2 million is nowhere near enough. It should start at least $5 million like San Francisco,” they said.
“We want direct cash payments, just like the stimulus [checks] have been sent. It’s our legacy, and we can take care of it.
And another resident added: ‘This million dollars we hear on the news is simply insufficient and further injustice if this is what this task force is going to recommend to black Americans for over 400 years and the continuation of l slavery and injustice we were forced to endure.
“To throw even a million dollars at us is just an injustice.”
