Secretary of State Shirley Weber noted the opportunity to right a historic wrong that continues today, in the form of large racial disparities in wealth, health and education.
The task force will put together a series of recommendations for the state legislature and work to educate Californians about the continued and past effects of slavery.
Tuesday s meeting of the first state reparations committee in the U.S. came as President Joe Biden commemorated thelives of hundreds of Black people killed by a white mob in what was then a thriving African-American community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a century ago. It also comes just over a year after George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered by a white police officer in Minnesota.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who as a state assemblywoman authored the state legislation creating the task force, noted the solemnity of the occasion as well as the opportunity to right an historic wrong that continues today, in the form of large racial disparities in wealth, health and education. African Americans make up just 6% of California’s population yet were 30% of an estimated 250,000 people experiencing homelessness who sought help in 2020.
Tamaki Appointed to Task Force to Study Reparations for African Americans
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SACRAMENTO – As the country continues to confront a history of racial injustice, deeply rooted in the legacy of slavery and systemic racism, Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 7 appointed five individuals to serve on the newly formed Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans.
The formation of this task force was made possible by the governor’s signing of AB 3121, authored by then-Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), which established a nine-member task force to inform Californians about slavery and explore ways the state might provide reparations.