It looks like payments of $5 million may be awarded to every eligible black resident of San Francisco after talks of a reparations plan, NY Post reported.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors met Tuesday to discuss a proposed idea that suggests paying a $5 million lump sum, the elimination of personal debt and tax burdens, guaranteed annual incomes of at least $97,000 for 250 years, and homes in San Francisco for just $1 a family to all eligible black residents affected by centuries of enslavement and systemic racism.
To be considered, applicants must be 18 or over and have
“identified as black on public documents for a decade,”
reports state. They will also have to verify that they meet two out of eight additional standards — including
“being born in or having migrated to San Francisco between 1940 and 1996, and having proof of residency for at least 13 years, being personally or a direct descendant of someone jailed in the ‘failed War on Drugs,’ or being a descendant of someone enslaved before 1865.”
“It is not a matter of whether or not there is a case for reparations for Black people here in San Francisco. It is a matter of what reparations will and should look like yet,”
Supervisor Shamann Walton said at the hearing’s opening,
“and still we have to remind everyone why this is so important.”
The Board of Supervisors says they will not respond to the city-appointed reparations committee’s list of more than 100 recommendations until it releases its final report in June. The board will vote to change, adopt or reject any or all the recommendations. However, some San Francisco Board of Supervisors expressed their support for the ideas listed, saying money should not deter the city from doing the right thing.
According to The Post, San Francisco has taken a financial plummet due to a tech industry downturn which will cause push back on the reparations plans. One estimate predicted the plan could cost the city, which has a 2022-2023 budget of $14 billion, roughly $50 billion. However, residents remain optimistic.
“The number itself, $5 million, is actually low when you consider the harm,”
Eric McDonnell, chair of San Francisco’s African American Reparations Advisory Committee said in a statement.
#Clique, what are your thoughts?
