In 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom of California created the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans.  

The purpose of the Task Force is to document California’s participation in the discrimination against African Americans, educate the public, and to set the stage for issuing reparations to descendants of black slaves.

The task force released its report on Wednesday. The 500-page report discusses the harms caused to blacks since the abolition of slavery.

“Four hundred years of discrimination has resulted in an enormous and persistent wealth gap between black and white Americans,” according to the interim report.

“These effects of slavery continue to be embedded in American society today and have never been sufficiently remedied. The governments of the United States and the State of California have never apologized to or compensated African Americans for these harms.”

According to the report, the Ku Klux Klan followers overtook police departments in California, and blacks were forced to live in dangerous and unhealthy areas, which resulted in segregation and abuses against blacks.
Other issues were detailed in the massive report. 

California is the only state to go this far, although cities in the US have made or are preparing to make reparations to black ancestors of slaves. 

“Once again, California is leading the nation, in a bipartisan way, on issues of racial justice and equity, which is a long overdue discussion, we must have – not just in a single state, but across America,” Governor Newsom said.

California has the fifth largest black population in the US, and blacks are 6% of California’s total population. Although 2.8 million black people live in the state, it is uncertain how many would be eligible for reparations. 

Statistics show that blacks in California earn less and own fewer houses than whites.

The study is important not only for the issue of reparations, but for fair treatment of black prisoners, and better opportunities provided to blacks in today’s society, such as low-rate mortgages, free health care, free tuition and scholarships. 

The report encourages providing people with the tools to research their lineage to a slave ancestor, so they know how to apply for financial restitution. 

An attorney whose office was involved in the task force, Attorney General Rob Bonta, said, “California was not a passive actor in perpetuating these harms. This interim report is a historic step by the State of California to acknowledge the insidious effects of slavery and ongoing systemic discrimination, recognize the state’s failings, and move toward rectifying the harm.”

The California government will decide in 2023 how to carry out the recommendations and turn them into law.