San Francisco Accepts Draft Plan to Pay $5M Reparations to Some Black Residents

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a draft plan to pay $5 million in reparations to certain black residents.

The Details: Other recommendations from the city's reparations task force include annual incomes of $97,000 for qualifying recipients and homes in San Francisco for $1 per family. The Board of Supervisors will not decide on the recommendations until it releases its final report in June. The board can then vote to change, adopt or reject any or all of them.

Key Quotes: "They just threw a number up, there’s no analysis," John Dennis, chair of San Francisco's Republican Party, said. "Families are hurting and have been for decades, if not longer,"  task force chairman Eric McDonnell said. Payments of $5 million are "definitely not going to happen," said journalist Mike Rothschild.

For Context: It's unclear how the city would fund the plan, and who among its roughly 45,000 black residents would qualify. Earlier this month, the state panel tasked with examining reparations recommended that California create an agency to implement and oversee reparations. In 2021, Evanston, Illinois became one of the first U.S. cities to start paying reparations to certain black residents.

How the Media Covered It: Left- and center-rated sources focused more on the specific proposals and supporters. Right-rated sources, as well as Newsweek (Center bias), highlighted critics of the plan and questions about funding. One opinion piece from San Francisco Chronicle (Left bias) labeled pushback to the plan as racist.