California paves way for slavery reparations with historic bill

California governor Gavin Newsom signed the first reparations bill into law

Credit: Rich Pedroncelli /AP

California has begun a process to pay reparations for slavery after it became the first US state to pass a law to study and develop compensation proposals for the descendants of slaves and those affected by it.

The landmark bill, signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday, will create a task force to develop recommendations for how the state could make payouts and determine who would be eligible.

In addition, the nine-member body can recommend how the state might offer a formal apology "for the perpetration of gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity on African slaves and their descendants". The task force can also recommend the elimination of laws that disproportionately impact black people.

Singing the legislation into law, Mr Newsom acknowledged that people of colour continue to face “discrimination and disadvantages” in the state, but said that the bipartisan support for the new law represented a “paradigm that we hope will be resonant all across the United States”.

The task force will carry out a comprehensive study on the lingering effects of slavery on all parts of society, such as racial disparities in prison populations, unemployment, wealth, housing, health care and education.

CA just became the first state in the nation to mandate the study and development of proposals for reparations.

Our past is one of slavery, racism, and injustice. Our systems were built to oppress people of color.

It’s past time we acknowledge that. https://t.co/sY8UWffqzt

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 30, 2020

The law does not prescribe a form of reparations or who should be eligible, which is something the task force must study and recommend, and any proposals for reparations payments would still require further legislation to proceed.

“California has come to terms with many of its issues, but it has yet to come to terms with its role in slavery,” said Shirley Weber, the Democratic assemblywoman who wrote the bill. “We’re talking about really addressing the issues of justice and fairness in this country that we have to address.”

Although California entered the Union as a “free state” in 1850, slavery continued in the state. Slavery was abolished nationwide by the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1865.

The thorny issue of slavery reparations has long been debated in the US, but has received little support from most of the population.

However the issue has gained more traction in the upper echelons of political power in recent years, with the US House of Representatives holding a hearing on the idea last year. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, and other prominent Democratic senators have also publicly supported some form of reparations.

But despite the increase in mainstream support, President Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, the majority leader of the Republican-controlled Senate, have emphatically rejected the idea.