According to reports, San Francisco is now one of the few American cities seriously considering reparations for its Black residents.
According to TMZ, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, comprised of 11 members, heard a proposal this week put forth by a reparations committee formed a few years ago at the City’s request, in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests across the country.
Some of the ideas being discussed about how to make things right with the African-American community include allocating $5 million to each eligible Black resident.
Among the requirements are being at least 18 years old and identifying as Black/African-American in public documents for at least 10 years.
The draft reparations plan includes additional benefits that people could receive. In addition to the one-time $5 million payout, the committee recommended a guaranteed basic income of $97,000 per year for the next 250 years.
They’d also have all of their debts and tax burdens erased, and they might even be able to buy a single-family San Francisco home for a buck. It appears that each family would be permitted to purchase only one, though this is not entirely clear.
The reparations committee had no answers for how this could be paid for. They put that on the supervisors themselves. The BOS, for its part, unanimously supported the proposal and stated that funding would be determined later.
Shamann Walton, the Board’s only Black supervisor, has been leading the charge on this and says he wants the reparations package included in future City budgets.
Not everyone agrees with the terms set forth by the committee, which is comprised of Black leaders and community members from San Francisco and surrounding areas. The NAACP, while supporting the concept of reparations, is opposed to the $5 million cash payouts, instead advocating for investment in institutions such as schools and housing.
The committee will submit its final report in June, and the Board will meet again in September to discuss it.
