Governor Rejects $1.2 Million Compensation for Black Californians

Mr. Newsom has indicated that he will not support the cash payments proposed by the Reparations Task Force. Credit: REUTERS/Mike Blake

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has refused to approve plans to pay descendants of slaves up to $1.2 million (£950,000) each.

Proposed payments compiled by the state's Reimbursement Task Force damages are intended to compensate black Californians for decades of injustice.

But these proposals could cost California, with its current $22.5 billion deficit, up to $800 billion.

That would dwarf the state's current annual budget of $296.9 billion.

To deal with the legacy of slavery, he told Fox News that «it's much more than cash.»

«Many of the recommendations put forward by the Task Force are important actions that we've already been working hard to address,» added Mr. Newsom in his statement.

Newsom created the Reparations Task Force after the killing of George Floyd. Credit: Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star- News via Getty Images

These included removing barriers to voting, strengthening resources to fight hate, making sweeping law enforcement and justice reforms to build confidence and security, and increasing economic mobility .

He added that California is also investing billions to end inequality and improve equity in housing, education, health care and more.

Detailed plans to provide compensation for mass incarceration and disparities in housing and health care will considered by the state legislature on July 1.

Payments under the scheme are calculated in great detail.

For example, compensation for excessive police work and mass incarceration resulting from the war on drugs is estimated at $2,352 USA per year.

This would mean that an African American living in California from 1971 to 2020 could receive $115,260.

National scheme hangs in Congress

After all proposals, the scheme is $1.2 million per person, based on of an average life expectancy of 71 years.

The national damages scheme has stalled in Congress.

But local schemes are being considered across the country, including in Massachusetts, Illinois and Shelby County, Tennessee .

Poll reveals a racial gap in support for the scheme: 77% of blacks and only 18% of whites support reparations, according to a Pew poll.

About 2.5 million Californians, 6.5% of the total population states identify themselves as black. But not everyone will qualify.

This will be limited to those who can prove they were «an African-American descendant of enslaved chattels or a descendant of a free black person who lived in the United States prior to the late 19th century.»

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