The California Senate Judiciary Committee has given its approval to a bill aiming to establish a new state agency responsible for implementing the recommendations put forth by the state’s reparations task force. This agency will also be tasked with determining the eligibility of individuals who can be identified as descendants of American slaves.
State Senator Steven Bradford, a Democrat from Gardena, has introduced SB 1403, a bill that aims to create the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency (CAFA). This agency would be responsible for implementing the recommendations put forth by the state’s reparations task force. The task force, formed by the state legislature, suggested that eligible black residents of California could potentially be owed up to $1.2 million. (Source: CalMatters)
The task force’s primary recommendation was to establish CAFA as a cabinet-level agency responsible for implementing any approved recommendations made by the Task Force and signed into law by the governor. Additionally, CAFA would be tasked with establishing a “Genealogy Office” to help determine and verify individuals’ eligibility for “descendant” status.
After the Judiciary Committee approved the bill, the provision remained intact, which defines a descendant as someone who is the offspring of a free Black individual residing in the United States before the conclusion of the 19th century. However, the section that previously only included “African American descendants of a chattel enslaved person [living in the United States]” has now been modified to include a broader range of individuals. It now encompasses descendants of African American chattel enslaved individuals in the United States.
The National African American Reparations Commission has provided analysis suggesting that lineage-based reparations programs may lead to a situation where white Americans become the majority of those eligible for reparations.
According to Michael Harriot, California has a Black population of 6.5 percent and a white population of 72 percent. If even half of these Black individuals could prove their connection to slavery, it would have significant implications. A comprehensive DNA study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics revealed that approximately 3.5 percent of self-identified white individuals nationwide, including about 5 percent of white Californians, have at least one percent African ancestry. Harriot raises concerns that if the task force considers establishing “negative evidence” as a means to prove lineage, it could potentially result in white individuals claiming the majority of reparations.
The current definition of reparations lacks clarity regarding the level of descent from an enslaved African American that qualifies an individual for compensation.
