Democrats Move Forward With $5 Million Per Person Stimulus

Although California joined the Union as a free state in 1850, a San Francisco committee studying the issue of making reparations for slavery has suggested that each long-term black citizen of the city receive $5 million.

In the midst of nationwide protests and rioting brought on by outrage over the Minneapolis murder of George Floyd, which in turn sparked a moral panic over “structural racism,” the city established a reparations committee in 2020.

The State of California also created its own, independent reparations panel, which is expected to provide a report to the state assembly later this year.

Justin Phillips of the San Francisco Chronicle reports:

“In the midst of a national racial reckoning, the Board of Supervisors established the committee, also known as AARAC, in Dec. 2020. Although creative, the board’s law was nevertheless limited, allowing city officials to disregard or outright reject the committee’s work.”

“AARAC demands that each eligible recipient receive a $5 million lump sum payment for damages. According to the draft, the sum might compensate for “the collective opportunity and economic losses that Black San Franciscans have experienced as a result of both intentional actions and unintended injuries inflicted by City policy.”

“Residents must be at least 18 years old and have identified for at least 10 years as Black or African American on official documents in order to be eligible for the benefits when the committee’s plan is implemented. They might also need to show that they were born in San Francisco from 1940 to 1996, that they have lived there for at least 13 years, and that they are someone who was imprisoned during the drug war or are directly descended from someone who was.”

In spite of generous financing from the Biden administration for coronavirus relief, the city confronts a shortfall of about $300 million over the next two years, which might lead to the elimination of many municipal positions.

The state’s reparations committee is suggesting a much lower payment per descendant of a black slave of about $233,000 instead. Additionally, it has proposed a variety of other contentious measures, like black-only schools.