California Reparations Task Force Recommends 10 New State Offices in Report

To repay African Americans in California for the “ongoing and compounding harms” of slavery, a state task force on June 1 recommended lawmakers create 10 new offices to oversee reparations.

The interim report (pdf) by the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans—about 500 pages long—describes the harms slavery inflicted on African Americans and its “lingering effects on American society today.”

One of the new state offices recommended in the report would be designed to help black Californians file for monetary reparations, while another office would help prove their eligibility for compensation through genealogical data.

The proposed Office of Freedmen Education and Social Services would also offer free tuition for black students in private K-12 schools and students wanting higher education in the state. A higher minimum wage and housing grants would be offered, too, though the details are unclear.

The 9-member task force is made up of five members who are appointed by the governor, two members are appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, and two members by the Speaker of the Assembly.