The reparations panel in California has asked for the state legislature to put forth legislation which would give black people preference in the rental and housing markets and force areas with discriminatory pasts to have their land use ordinances reviewed.
The panel recommended the legislature attack alleged systemic racism by empowering a state agency with veto power over local land use decisions in a proposal drafted on May 6. The proposed agency would either approve or deny the ordinances based their impact on residential racial segregation. The policy would be used to address the legacy of “unjust property takings” and residential segregation within the state, according to the draft. (RELATED: Dems Stuffed Billions In Reparations For Black Farmers In ‘Inflation Reduction Act’)
“Residential zoning ordinances have been used for decades in California to prevent African Americans from moving into neighborhoods, thereby maintaining residential segregation,” the reparations committee wrote in their report. “Various laws were also used to prevent additional housing from being built, effectively shutting out African Americans.”
The legislature would find cities and counties that have a legacy of redlining and are still dealing with high levels of racial residential segregation. Under the proposal, a state agency would have veto power over residential land use ordinances of these areas “if the agency finds that the proposed ordinance will maintain or exacerbate levels of residential racial segregation.”
California Reparations Task Force Calls for State Agency to Have Veto Power Over Local Real Estate Decisions via @gatewaypundit https://t.co/PV2mcyLwGT
— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) May 15, 2023
The panel also recommends the creation of an administrative appeal board which would “review challenges to developmental permitting decisions or zoning laws.” The board would make decisions based the zoning laws and development ordinances’ predicted impact on racial integration.
The panel also wants a “right to return” for black Americans who were displaced from California towns due to the state’s alleged history of redlining, racial violence, racial covenants, or development projects, according to the report.
“The right to return should give the victims of these purges and their descendants preference in renting or owning property in the area of redevelopment,” the proposal reads.
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom assembled the panel to study reparations in 2020 to counteract the alleged “structural racism and bias built into and permeating throughout our democratic and economic institutions.” The panel is expected to present their final work to the California legislature on July 1, Yahoo News reported.