Background

New Reparations Ideas Include Senior Housing, Legal Assistance and a ‘Black Card’ for Local Discounts

Article arrow_drop_down


Just over a week after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted affirmative action in college admissions, San Francisco took a major step in the other direction by advancing a plan to repair historical harms by the government against Black people.

After dozens of meetings over two years, the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee  released its final recommendations to the Board of Supervisors and Mayor London Breed on Friday.

Beyond policy ideas in a December 2022 draft report such as $5 million cash payments to qualifying Black San Franciscans, the committee added dozens of new recommendations such as the creation of a “Black card” program offering free access to city services and discounts at businesses. The proposal would also further shake up politics, adding two Board of Supervisors appointees to the Police Commission, including someone who has been incarcerated.

The final plan altered qualifications for reparations programs. For example, now participants have only to prove one “harm” to be eligible.

But the “what” of the recommendations did not change as much as the “why.” The authors added much detail to their analysis, expanding discussion of injustices committed by government and private actors against Black San Franciscans, growing the report from a 60-page draft to almost 400 pages.

It takes pains to point out a precedent for local reparations: compensation by federal and San Francisco governments for Japanese Americans imprisoned during World War II. The movement for Black reparations gained momentum in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by Minneapolis police in May 2020, and was accelerated by racial disparities in the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. In San Francisco, reparations advocates, such as the local NAACP branch, had long denounced discrimination in housing, economic opportunity, disparities in health outcomes for Black residents. They also pointed to disparities in education outcomes — a greater challenge now than before the Supreme Court signaled a further curtailment of affirmative action nationwide.

“The court’s ruling,” observed James Lance Taylor, a professor of political science at the University of San Francisco who sits on the Reparations Advisory Committee, “said ‘No, we want to go back to old America.’ And reparations is saying, ‘We don’t want to be broken anymore as a people, we want to go into the rest of the 21st century somewhat whole.”

The committee’s draft plan drew national attention by advocating for the $5 million payments, as well as other policies such as selling public housing units for $1 each, establishing a historically Black college or university campus in the city, building neighborhood health clinics in African American neighborhoods and supporting Black cultural institutions. These provisions remain in the final version.

The Board of Supervisors plans to hold a public meeting on Sept. 19 to discuss the final plan’s ideas, including presentations from several reparations committee members.

Though critics question the need for reparations in a city where slavery was not formally adopted, the report notes: “The tenets of segregation, white supremacy, separatism, and the systematic repression and exclusion of Black people from the city’s economy were codified through legal and extralegal actions, social codes, and judicial enforcement. The legacies of these actions bear true to this day.”

The local report comes on the heels of a parallel effort in Sacramento. The California State Reparations Task Force on June 29 submitted its findings for consideration by the Legislature. Recommendations include a formal apology for “gross” human rights violations against enslaved African people and their descendants, cash payments, restoring voting rights to formerly incarcerated people, tax relief for Black families in neighborhoods where the government participated in discriminatory lending, a K-12 Black curriculum, and eliminating toxic waste near federally assisted housing and other areas with high concentrations of African Americans.

Committing Resources

On June 29, several San Francisco supervisors reached an agreement with Breed to include $4 million in the city’s two-year budget for an Office of Reparations. That sum was a far cry from the $50 million that Supervisor Shamann Walton, who proposed the reparations committee, advocated in March.

Walton told the San Francisco Examiner he was “definitely disappointed we didn’t get $50 million, definitely disappointed we didn’t get $10 million, but most certainly positive and optimistic that we’re moving forward and there will be a positive outcome.”

Taylor said $4 million was “not a small amount of money” and expressed guarded optimism that reparations would move forward with an office. “I’m encouraged because of recent developments, but we’re still up against the tide and have a long way to go and a lot of people to, you know, to meet and persuade,” he said.

A June 5 San Francisco Budget and Legislative Analyst report estimated that the office would require $1.6 million over two years for administration. The office could use remaining funds to search for eligible applicants, develop policy proposals, create pilot programs and set investment criteria. But more funds would be needed for bigger goals, such as cash payments.

Though the funds have been secured, Breed “has not agreed” to allow her administration to spend the money, mayoral spokesperson Jeff Cretan told the San Francisco Chronicle.

In an email to the Public Press, the mayor’s office wrote that Breed believes reparations, including cash payments, is an issue best handled on the national level. However, “we are always interested in reforming local policies to address systemic issues that impact our communities, including the African-American community,” her office wrote. “We will be reviewing the report to understand what is included, and will work to implement policies and programs that deliver on that commitment.”

The full board must vote twice to finalize the budget before Breed signs it by August. The board unanimously endorsed the draft reparations plan in March in a nonbinding vote, but its recommendations can still be amended or set aside.

Question of Eligibility

To qualify for reparations, applicants must meet criteria the board recently amended in part to align with language in the California State Reparations Task Force’s report. Participants must be either African American descendants of an enslaved person, descendants of a free Black person prior to the 20th century, or have identified as Black or African American on public documents for 10 years. They must also be over 18 and have been born in or migrated to San Francisco before 2006, with 10 years of residency.

The plan requires participants to have suffered harm, and several examples were added to the list and others clarified. Additions include documented injury by law enforcement, lending discrimination and substandard living conditions in public or subsidized housing. Instead of proving two harms as in the draft plan, participants now need prove only one.

Additional Policies and Findings

Four subcommittees of the Reparations Advisory Committee added dozens of new recommendations in the past six months, as well as historical discussion and contemporary study findings.

Policy additions include a Black legal defense fund to help city workers facing discrimination, a genealogy testing fund and housing opportunities for Black seniors and LGBTQ+ people. Another suggestion: using money from cannabis taxes and restitution from drug-related class action lawsuits to fund Black businesses, education and homeownership.

The final report cites findings by several academic and governmental groups. A Law and Policy Lab report from Stanford Law School details disinvestment in San Francisco’s African American community between 1970 and 2022. An independent reviewer from Stanford University documented barriers in the city’s recruiting, hiring and advancement of Black workers.

Also included are a community-led oral history guide from students at Stanford Law School, findings from interviews and focus groups by students at the University of San Francisco and a socio-spatial analysis of Black San Francisco and a survey analysis by Kerby Lynch, senior program manager for Ceres Policy Research, a policy-oriented research group focused on alternatives to the current justice system.

The report acknowledges that the movement will need backing from the community and elected officials. State residents “express significant support for reparations measures for eligible Black Californians,” though it varies by characteristics like race and age, according to a study from the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. The survey shows that 87% Black Californians support cash payments, while only 47% of white people and 46% of Asian Americans do. Overall, cash payments attracted the least support — 63% — of any of the provisions surveyed.

But advocates note that many ideas once considered radical have come to fruition. “Momentum is in our favor,” Taylor said. “I’m most proud that we have inspired people to believe that this is theirs, that they deserve it. It is not welfare, it is not affirmative action, it is not Black begging. It is the result of actual harm that the state did to them as a population.”



Source: www.sfpublicpress.org

About the author

trending_flat
Judge denies motion to ease house arrest of Jon Jacobo

A San Francisco judge on Thursday denied a motion to loosen the home detention conditions forJon Jacobo, a once-rising star in San Francisco’s politics who was arrested on Aug. 5 for alleged sexual assault. “The motion is denied to the extent that it asks for relief from home detention and [ankle] monitoring,” said San Francisco Superior Court judge Kenneth Wine this morning. “It’s the seriousness of the charges that’s really driving my decision. There are a number of victims with very serious charges.”Jacobo, a longtime Mission District community leader, was first publicly accused of rape in 2021. This April, he resigned from his executive position at affordable-housing developer TODCO, soon after three women accused him of rape and abuse in a San Francisco Standard story. He was arrested on Aug. 5, 2024. Jacobo today showed up in the courtroom in casual clothes […]

trending_flat
Pam Bondi named as new AG pick after Gaetz drops out

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general, said Thursday he is withdrawing his name for the role -- just a day after Gaetz spoke with Republican senators on Capitol Hill about the nomination process.Trump has named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, as his new pick for the role.Another controversial Cabinet pick, Pete Hegseth, is on the Hill on Thursday with Vice President-elect JD Vance to make his case for the secretary of the Department of Defense job.Meanwhile, Trump continues to announce his picks for top jobs inside his administration.Latest DevelopmentsNov 21, 6:56 PMTrump nominates Pam Bondi as new AG pickTrump has nominated Pam Bondi as his new pick for attorney general, after Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration earlier Thursday.Bondi is the former attorney general of Florida, serving from 2011 to 2019 and marking […]

trending_flat
Mission Local bags two Society of Professional Journalists awards

This here publication last week took home two more awards from the Northern California branch of the Society of Professional Journalists for in-depth coverage and analysis of the sort you expect — and demand — of us. Senior editor Joe Rivano Barros and former data reporter Will Jarrett were honored in the “Explanatory Journalism” category for the mammoth effort of tracing and documenting the Russian dolls-like series of interconnected organizations funneling billionaires’ dollars into San Francisco politics. Joe Rivano Barros, who with Will Jarrett won for the Big Money SF work. Photo by Abigail Van NeelyThe series, titled “BigMoneySF,” included Rivano Barros’ profile of Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, the largest donor over the last several election cycles, and Jarrett’s interactive chart, a stunning accomplishment requiring months of work unearthing reams of financial data structured in a manner so as to render it […]

trending_flat
US airline flight crews confident and angry as unions seek richer contracts

By Rajesh Kumar Singh CHICAGO (Reuters) - Alaska Airlines flight attendant Rebecca Owens works 10 hours a day but only gets paid for half that time - a legacy of a common U.S. airline policy to pay cabin crew members only when planes are in motion. Owens, and thousands of cabin crew like her, wants that to change. In August, 68% of Alaska flight attendants in a ratification vote rejected a contract that would have increased average pay by 32% over three years. It was also the first labor agreement that would have legally required airlines to start the clock for paying flight attendants when passengers are boarding, not when the flight starts to taxi down the runway. Delta Air Lines, the only major U.S. airline whose flight attendants are not in a union, instituted boarding pay for its flight […]

trending_flat
Easy Caramel Apple Cider Mimosas

  Sweet, tart and bubbly, this recipe for Caramel Apple Cider Mimosas is a perfectly refreshing cocktail for your next fall party, Thanksgiving brunch, or holiday gathering!  A traditional mimosa is only two ingredients: orange juice and champagne (or sparkling wine). But since this recipe is inspired by warm autumn flavors, apple cider replaces orange juice and we’re adding a splash of caramel flavored whiskey. If you can’t find a caramel flavored whiskey, we have some substitutions below in the ‘Tips’ section below. The Ingredients Champagne (Or other sparkling wine like cava or prosecco) Apple cider (not a apple juice) Caramel flavored whiskey Fresh apple slices (honey crisp or granny smith are both delicious!) How to Make the Mimosas These mimosas are easy to make!  Simply add 2 ounces of apple cider to your champagne glass with .5 ounces (equal to […]

trending_flat
‘Slow Streets, Fast Friends’ mural comes to 20th St. in the Mission

Sign up below to get Mission Local’s free newsletter, a daily digest of news you won’t find elsewhere. Josue Rojas hovers in the air above the ground, gingerly balancing his stomach on a stool while holding his paintbrush in one hand, face towards the asphalt. He says it’s better than being on all fours. “It’s particularly brutal work,” says Rojas. “I’m on my knees six to eight hours a day and, now that I’m in my mid-40s, it’s not that easy to bear.” Rojas has spent the past week working between bursts of rain to create a street mural on 20th and Florida streets for the “Slow Streets, Fast Friends” project of the SF Parks Alliance nonprofit, which commissions murals on slow streets throughout the city.The mural was finished this past weekend, and now adorns the block where Atlas Cafe, the Southern […]

Related

trending_flat
Judge denies motion to ease house arrest of Jon Jacobo

A San Francisco judge on Thursday denied a motion to loosen the home detention conditions forJon Jacobo, a once-rising star in San Francisco’s politics who was arrested on Aug. 5 for alleged sexual assault. “The motion is denied to the extent that it asks for relief from home detention and [ankle] monitoring,” said San Francisco Superior Court judge Kenneth Wine this morning. “It’s the seriousness of the charges that’s really driving my decision. There are a number of victims with very serious charges.”Jacobo, a longtime Mission District community leader, was first publicly accused of rape in 2021. This April, he resigned from his executive position at affordable-housing developer TODCO, soon after three women accused him of rape and abuse in a San Francisco Standard story. He was arrested on Aug. 5, 2024. Jacobo today showed up in the courtroom in casual clothes […]

trending_flat
Mission Local bags two Society of Professional Journalists awards

This here publication last week took home two more awards from the Northern California branch of the Society of Professional Journalists for in-depth coverage and analysis of the sort you expect — and demand — of us. Senior editor Joe Rivano Barros and former data reporter Will Jarrett were honored in the “Explanatory Journalism” category for the mammoth effort of tracing and documenting the Russian dolls-like series of interconnected organizations funneling billionaires’ dollars into San Francisco politics. Joe Rivano Barros, who with Will Jarrett won for the Big Money SF work. Photo by Abigail Van NeelyThe series, titled “BigMoneySF,” included Rivano Barros’ profile of Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, the largest donor over the last several election cycles, and Jarrett’s interactive chart, a stunning accomplishment requiring months of work unearthing reams of financial data structured in a manner so as to render it […]

trending_flat
‘Slow Streets, Fast Friends’ mural comes to 20th St. in the Mission

Sign up below to get Mission Local’s free newsletter, a daily digest of news you won’t find elsewhere. Josue Rojas hovers in the air above the ground, gingerly balancing his stomach on a stool while holding his paintbrush in one hand, face towards the asphalt. He says it’s better than being on all fours. “It’s particularly brutal work,” says Rojas. “I’m on my knees six to eight hours a day and, now that I’m in my mid-40s, it’s not that easy to bear.” Rojas has spent the past week working between bursts of rain to create a street mural on 20th and Florida streets for the “Slow Streets, Fast Friends” project of the SF Parks Alliance nonprofit, which commissions murals on slow streets throughout the city.The mural was finished this past weekend, and now adorns the block where Atlas Cafe, the Southern […]

trending_flat
SFMTA board approves new Valencia bikeway—but few are happy

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board unanimously approved the new curbside Valencia Street bike lane on Tuesday, and admitted that the transit agency should have been more cautious with experiments in merchant corridors.That experiment — a bike lane running up the center of the street — had pitted transit advocates against shopkeepers. Now cyclists and the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association were finally on the same page: Neither were fans of the new design.“The [merchants association] cannot officially support the side-running bike lane,” said Manny Yekutiel, president of the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association, which has fought the old design. Yekutiel was one of dozens who spoke up in the three-hour-long meeting held at City Hall.Yekutiel, echoing long-held concerns from merchants against streetscape changes, said the new design will get rid of a lot of the parking spots on Valencia Street. […]

trending_flat
Nima Momeni contradicts himself on witness stand

In his third day of testimony Nima Momeni, who is on trial for the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee seemed to contradict some of his earlier statements. For the most part, Momeni answered the questions about the April 2023 incident and aftermath using very similar phrasing as he did during two days of testimony last week. Most significantly, Momeni testified earlier that the altercation between Lee and himself began over a “joke” he made to Lee about spending time with his family instead of going to a strip club. Judge Alexandra Gordon, who asked questions through the morning on behalf of the jurors, asked Momeni what happened after this joke and whether Momeni ever apologized for it. That’s when Momeni mentioned knowing Lee was in town to see his children. This raised an issue: Last week, under questioning from prosecutor Omid […]

About Karl The Fog

Welcome to Karl The Fog, your digital gateway to the enigmatic world of San Francisco’s legendary mist. We are the storytellers, the observers, and the chroniclers of the ever-elusive, charismatic character known as Karl.

KARL THE FOG, and KARL THE FOG COFFEE logos, images, fonts, names, and other trademarks are trademarks of KARL THE FOG, LLC and may not be used without permission.

Login to enjoy full advantages

Please login or subscribe to continue.

Go Premium!

Enjoy the full advantage of the premium access.

Stop following

Unfollow Cancel

Cancel subscription

Are you sure you want to cancel your subscription? You will lose your Premium access and stored playlists.

Go back Confirm cancellation