Part II of California’s Efforts in the Slavery Reparations Series
Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, speaks about a package of reparations legislation at a press conference at the state Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (Credit: AP Photo/Sophie Austin)
Will California Follow Evanston’s Footsteps and Lead the Nation to Follow? It’s beginning to look a lot like they will! On Thursday, the last day of Black History Month 2024, in a leap year, the California State Senate passed SCR 113. As discussed in a previous article, at the beginning of last month over 13 bills were introduced to California’s state lawmakers to consider this session. SCR 113 is one of those bills, and perhaps, at the very heart of it, the most important. This bill is California’s acceptance of responsibility for the role they played in harming their African American residents and their descendants. Per the bill’s text, “The State of California recognizes and accepts responsibility for all of the harms and atrocities committed by representatives of the state who promoted, facilitated, enforced, and permitted the institution of chattel slavery and its legacy of ongoing badges and incidents of slavery that form the systemic structures of discrimination.”
How exactly did state representatives harm their black residents after slavery was abolished? Through state and local segregation laws, disenfranchisement, medical experimentation, racist housing policies, unjust uses of eminent domain, bars on interracial marriage, government-sanctioned violence and mass incarceration, just to name a few of the ways in which the state continued to systemically oppress black individuals and families and keep them in inferior positions. If, moving into the second quarter of the year 2024, you still don’t believe systematic racism and discrimination is real or doubt that it still to this day causes unimaginable difficulties and harm to African Americans you are sadly misinformed and are choosing to turn the other cheek on cruel violations of human rights. We live in a time that demands us to stop ignoring these wrongs, stop wronging our black community members, and to make amends for those wrongs that have already been done and, unfortunately, can never be undone. But we CAN do better. “There are still people in this country and state who are either not aware of the state’s real role, or they just choose to look away and live in a fantasy world. Educating all Californians about the enduring harms of slavery in our state and the racially discriminatory policies that were implemented will be critical if we are ever going to fulfill the promise of equal treatment for all,” State Senator Steve Bradford(D) said in his remarks to his colleagues in the Senate yesterday, and truer words have never been spoken. You can listen to Bradford’s comments here. Now, if we just change the “Californians” part to “Americans,” we might really be on to something.
There is no question in my mind that California’s resolution to protect its black residents and make amends to them for the wrongs they and their ancestors have had to endure is a step toward seeing these reparations made on the national level. And just to think, a little old town like Evanston Illinois started it all! What a wonderful way to end Black History Month! I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next as this resolution heads to the California State Assembly, and I’ll bet you all are too! We here at BLACK will keep you in the loop as more information comes in over the next couple of months, so stay tuned!
References
Kennedy, K. (2024). California Senate advances resolution to acknowledge atrocities against Black Americans (msn.com)
Senate Concurrent Resolution 113. Bill Text – SCR-113 Human rights violations and crimes against humanity on African slaves and their descendants.
Senator Steve Bradford’s(D) Remarks on Senate Floor. SCR 113 Human Rights Violations and Crimes against Humanity on African Slaves and Their Descendants (youtube.com)
About the Author:
Tia is an investigative journalist here at BLACK. She holds degrees in Political Science and Applied Economics from SNHU and she is a first-year law student at Purdue Global Law School, pursuing her J.D. She also has a certification in Human Rights from Wassmuth Center for Human Rights in Boise Idaho and she recently interned for the Office of Budget and Entitlement Policy at Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. Tia is a RESULTS 2024 Organizing and Advocacy Fellow and Outreach and Partnerships Coordinator. She lives with her husband and three children in Hurricane, West Virginia.
In her free time, she enjoys contemporary art, fashion, home décor, reading, and family. Tia is passionate about protecting American consumers and corporations and is a strong proponent for open markets, human rights, and equality for all. Her current focus is slavery reparations, entitlement program solvency, and budget appropriations process reform. While Tia is not black, she supports the fight for equality and stands with BLM. She believes that unearned privilege creates a duty to act against racial inequality and injustices.
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