California Reparations Task Force Approves Payments for Black Residents

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Residents walk across a Lunar New Year festival site after it was canceled due to a mass shooting nearby in Monterey Park, California, Sunday, January 22, 2023.InternationalIndiaAfricaWASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The nine-member California Reparations Task Force has approved a packet of recommendations that, if agreed upon the California legislature and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, would provide Black residents with financial redress for the historical impact of slavery and discrimination, US media reported.The task force gave final approval at a meeting in Oakland over the weekend to a significant list of proposals seeking to rectify racial inequalities across California that could cost $800 billion, US media reported. The task force said reparations are not only morally justifiable but have the potential to address long standing racial disparities and inequalities, the report said. The panel’s vote approved a detailed account of historical discrimination against Black Californians in areas such as housing, education, policing and incarceration, among others, the report said.Beyond PoliticsWinter Might Bring ‘Gold Rush 2.0’ to CaliforniaYesterday, 00:06 GMTThe task force recommended that the state create an agency that could provide services to descendants of enslaved people to calculate what the state owes them, the report added. While the panel did not specify what form the compensation would take, it stated that the reparations should include cash or its equivalent, the report added. Almost 7 percent of California residents, or about 2.5 million people, are Black.