Total debt forgiveness and $5 million payouts are among the reparations the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee is proposing that the city grant to longtime Black residents who have been a victim of the city’s “systematic repression and exclusion” of the Black community.
The committee, tasked with developing a reparations plan for the city, released its 60-page draft plan at its Dec. 12 meeting.
At the top of its long list of recommended reparations, the committee proposes that the City of San Francisco issue a one-time, lump sum payment of $5 million to every eligible individual.
“A lump sum payment would compensate the affected population for the decades of harms that they have experienced, and will redress the economic and opportunity losses that Black San Franciscans have endured, collectively, as the result of both intentional decisions and unintended harms perpetuated by City policy,” the draft plan reads.
Additional proposed means of financial restitution include financing a “comprehensive debt forgiveness program that clears all educational, personal, credit card, payday loans, etc.,” and supplementing the incomes of lower-income Black households to reflect the Area Median Income (AMI)—$97,000 in 2022—for at least 250 years ($97,000 in 2022).”
“Racial disparities across all metrics have led to a significant racial wealth gap in the City of San Francisco,” the draft states. “By elevating income to match AMI, Black people can better afford housing and achieve a better quality of life.”
Reparations in the areas of education, health, and state policy were also proposed by the committee, including the establishment of an “Afrocentric” K-12 school in San Francisco built “intentionally for African-American student enrollment,” and the repeal of Article 34 of the California Constitution, which requires voter approval for all low-rent public housing projects.
Eligibility Requirements
According to the committee’s eligibility checklist (pdf), residents would have to meet several requirements to qualify for reparations, including being at least 18 years of age and having identified as “Black/African American” on public documents for at least 10 years.Eligible individuals must also provide documentation showing that they meet a certain number of criteria on a list of other qualifications, which include having been born in or migrated to San Francisco between 1940 and 1996 with proof of residency in the city for at least 13 years, and/or having been personally or the direct descendant of someone “incarcerated by the failed War on Drugs,” among other groups.
At its December meeting, the committee also adopted a resolution urging the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to approve the draft report.
Other Efforts
While the San Francisco committee has been working on its reparations plan, additional groups across the country have been deliberating on the same, including California at the state level, the City of Boston, and the federal government.Last month, the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans began discussions of financial compensation at a meeting in Oakland.
During the Dec. 14 meeting, Max Fennell, a 35-year-old coffee company owner, said he felt every person should get $350,000 in compensation and Black-owned businesses should receive $250,000 to help them flourish.
“It’s a debt that’s owed, we worked for free,” he said. “We’re not asking; we’re telling you.”
As of yet, the task force has not settled on any dollar amounts or what form reparations should take, according to its chairperson, Kamilah Moore.
That same day, the Boston City Council voted unanimously to form its own task force on reparations for Black residents.
“This ordinance is only the start of a long-awaited yet necessary conversation,” City Councilor Julia Mejia said. “The City of Boston, like many areas around the United States, has profited from the labor of enslaved African Americans and has further disadvantaged them by barring them from participating in the same economic mobility opportunities as their white counterparts.”
Likewise, Democrats in Congress, led by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), have recently pushed for national reparations and an apology for slavery, introducing legislation on the matter last week.
But despite the recent flurry of activity on the matter, not everyone is on board with the concept of reparations.
While 77 percent of black Americans say they support reparations, only 18 percent of white Americans say the same. Meanwhile, Hispanic and Asian Americans fall in the middle, supporting the idea at 39 percent and 33 percent, respectively.
