The Daily Caller News Foundation asked every Democratic member of Congress from California if they supported their state’s ambitious reparations plan, finding that just two would go on the record regarding the proposal.
California’s Reparations Task Force voted Saturday to send a plan to the legislature that would, if approved, pay out $800 billion in reparations to black citizens. Despite numerous attempts to contact members, only one Democrat in California’s Congressional delegation, which numbers 42 members, responded to inquiries. (RELATED: California Reparations Task Force Approves $800 Billion Recommendations)
The office of Democratic Rep. Mark DeSaulnier deferred to Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee’s opinions when contacted by the DCNF.
“We think checking in with our neighbor Rep. Lee would be best given her work on this issue,” Mairead Glowacki, a spokesperson for DeSaulnier, who represents California’s 10th Congressional District, covering Concord and San Ramon, told the DCNF.
Lee, who represents Oakland in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a former Congressional Black Caucus chair, has expressed support for the plan, which would see eligible black Californians receive up to $1.2 million in payments, on average. These include a housing discrimination payment of $148,099, a mass incarceration payment of $115,260 and an annual yearly payment of $13,619 for health care disparities, assuming an average lifespan of 71 years, according to the recommendations.
“Reparations are not a luxury for our people, but a human right long overdue for millions of Americans,” Lee said at the Task Force’s meeting on Saturday, where the recommendations were approved. Lee, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2025, added that, “The atrocities committed against black Americans are undeniable, and reparations are a tangible route to acknowledging and making amends to the glaring economic and social impacts of slavery and systemic racism.”
No other California Democrat in the House or Senate responded to the inquiry.
The lack of response from Democratic federal lawmakers from the state comes as the proposal has been criticized by Republicans in California.
“Let us never force one group of Americans to pay off another group to atone for the sins of others,” wrote California Republican presidential candidate Larry Elder, who is black, on Twitter in response to the proposal.
A Democrat, State Sen. Steven Bradford, meanwhile, said that the proposal would face an “uphill battle” through the state legislature, according to CalMatters, a state-based investigative group.
Jack Brewer, a black former National Football Association player, also criticized the proposal. “I mean, our communities are ravaged right now. And you’ve got a bunch of people standing up asking for million-dollar checks. It’s absolutely insane to me,” he told Fox News.
California’s proposal, the result of a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to study the issue, will now be submitted to the legislature for approval. It is separate from a proposal by the City of San Francisco to pay $5 million to African-American residents of the city, which has also been criticized.
Newsom declined to explicitly endorse the proposal in a statement to the DCNF, though he appeared supportive of certain elements.
“The Reparations Task Force’s independent findings and recommendations are a milestone in our bipartisan effort to advance justice and promote healing. This has been an important process, and we should continue to work as a nation to reconcile our original sin of slavery and understand how that history has shaped our country,” Newsom said.
“Dealing with that legacy is about much more than cash payments. Many of the recommendations put forward by the Task Force are critical action items we’ve already been hard at work addressing,” Newsom wrote, adding that “[t]his work must continue. Following the Task Force’s submission of its final report this summer, I look forward to a continued partnership with the Legislature to advance systemic changes that ensure an inclusive and equitable future for all Californians.”
When asked whether she would support the recommendations, the Democratic President pro tempore of the California Senate, Toni Atkins, said she “look[s] forward to receiving the Reparations Task Force’s final report, and will be carefully examining its findings and recommendations,” in a statement to the DCNF.
The Democratic Speaker of the California Assembly did not respond to a request for comment.
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