The Californian Reparations Task Force, which seeks to give hundreds of thousands of dollars to each black state resident, is due to meet later this week.
The nine-member task force, comprising eight black members and one Asian member, was created through Assembly Bill 3121 on Sept. 20, 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd riots.
SAN FRANCISCO PLAN TO GIVE $5 MILLION TO BLACK RESIDENTS IN REPARATIONS SLAMMED AS 'RACIST'
The force was tasked with researching California's liability in racist practices that affected the black community and coming up with a proper figure of financial compensation. Its next meeting is due to take place on Friday and Saturday in Sacramento, according to CapRadio.
The task force was given the authority to hold hearings, hear witness testimony, and request the production of evidence.
The purpose of the committee is "(1) to study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans; (2) to recommend appropriate ways to educate the California public of the task force's findings; and (3) to recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the Task Force’s findings," according to its website.
California asked a team of five economists to quantify the total amount that discrimination had cost the black community in California. It estimated that discriminatory housing policies between 1933 and 1977 cost a total of $569 billion, or $223,329 for every black resident in the state, the Washington Post reported.
However, that figure only covers housing discrimination, and the group is still set to calculate the cost of a variety of other discriminatory policies. That means the final recommended reparations total will be much higher. The final figure is expected to be given in June, along with the committee's final report.
The timing of Friday and Saturday's meeting signals an intensification of the committee's efforts, with the previous meeting having been held on Jan. 27. For much of 2022, there were several months between meetings.
The ways that reparations task forces come to their figures have been called into question, particularly when a San Francisco reparations task force came up with a figure of $5 million per black resident.
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"I will be the first lawyer to fight against this," civil rights attorney Leo Terrell, who is black, said about the proposal in an appearance on Fox News.
"This is outrageous, it's unlawful, it's unconstitutional, it's racist, but it's not surprising it came from California," he said.