San Francisco Reparations Committee Proposes Staggering Amount for Each Longtime Black Resident

Leah Barkoukis | January 17, 2023 9:30 AM

A San Francisco reparations panel is recommending that each eligible black resident of the city get a one-time payment of $5 million to redress the “decades of harm they have experienced.”

The San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee made the proposal to city officials in a draft report published last month.

"While neither San Francisco, nor California, formally adopted the institution of chattel slavery, the tenets of segregation, white supremacy and systematic repression and exclusion of Black people were codified through legal and extralegal actions, social codes, and judicial enforcement," the draft states. "A lump sum payment would compensate the affected population for the decades of harms that they have experienced, and will redress the economic and opportunity losses that Black San Franciscans have endured, collectively, as the result of both intentional decisions and unintended harms perpetuated by City policy.”

In addition to the $5 million lump sum, a “comprehensive debt forgiveness program” and a supplementary annual income for lower-income residents for at least 250 years were also proposed, among other financial recommendations.

The eligibility section states that applicants must be at least 18 years old and have “identified” as black on public documents for a minimum of 10 years. Additionally, two categories on a list of eight must also be met, which lists being born in or migrated to the city between 1940 and 1996, with proof of residency for 13 years, among other criteria.