Decoding the recent California reparations proposal

 

Rajan Laad   "Recently, Fox News reported the following:

The California Reparations Task Force's five-member economic consultant team reported that under the initiative, qualifying Black residents in the state could qualify for $223,200 per person.

"The Reparations Task Force was formed by legislation signed by California governor Gavin Newsom in 2020.

"The panel, comprising primarily African-American members, voted 5-4 to limit reparations to descendants of enslaved African Americans or of a "free Black person living in the United States prior to the end of the 19th century."

"It would be up to the California Legislature to act upon the recommendations.

"California was a state that fought with the Union during the Civil War and never engaged in widespread slavery, but that's irrelevant to Newsom.  It also isn't the only state attempting the exercise.

"Back in 2021, officials in Evanston, Ill., a Chicago suburb, approved $10 million in reparations in the form of housing grants.

"Also in 2021, officials in Asheville, N.C. committed $2.1 million to reparations.

So let's dig deeper.

"The panel says that only Black residents will qualify to receive reparations.

"Since slavery ended around 157 years ago, these Black residents are likely to have a percentage of slave heritage.

"The first question is who decides the cutoff percentage of qualification.". . .

Will those convicted of smash-and-grab robberies be forced to deduct the value of what they stole from the reparations? Those convicted of the near-fatal assault on Reginald Denny during the LA riots may be asked to pay his medical expenses?

The only way to deduce slave ancestry is for all California residents to submit to a DNA test. This will be a massive undertaking and will probably cost the state millions of dollars, but that is the only accurate way to do it.