Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) earned the ire of California Democrats after rejecting several reparations-inspired racial justice bills.
Newsom passed a bill granting $6 million for California State University to study how to confirm the status of slave descendants, but rejected others providing special preference to black people or the descendants of slaves. Democratic Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, who wrote one of the bills, said the veto was “more than disappointing.”
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“While the Trump Administration threatens our institutions of higher learning and attacks the foundations of diversity and inclusivity, now is not the time to shy away from the fight to protect students who have descended from legacies of harm and exclusion,” he said, the Associated Press reported.
One of the bills would have authorized colleges to give admissions preference to the descendants of slaves, while another would require the state to investigate whether their property was taken in a racist manner through eminent domain. Perhaps the most explicit would have devoted 10% of the money from a loan program for first-time homebuyers for slave descendants.
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Regarding the college admissions preference bill, Newsom said it was unnecessary since colleges can already do that, the Associated Press reported.
The vetoes, though unpopular with progressive Democrats, could further indicate that Newsom’s gaze is on 2028, given the deep unpopularity of reparations among the general population.