Supporters of reparations for African-Americans in San Francisco rallied outside City Hall Monday as a citizens’ committee appointed by the Board of Supervisors released a list of recommendations to compensate the Black community for losses due to racism. The Supervisors asked the committee for options, none of which they have to accept. The committee issued a preliminary report saying its recommended list of options is likely to include a $5 million lump-sum payment for those who qualify; a guaranteed annual income of $97,000 for 250 years; eliminating personal debts and tax obligations; and homes in the city for $1. Supervisors were united in supporting the idea of reparations, but divided in the best ways to achieve them. Conservatives said the payments would bankrupt the city, and liberals also worried about the cost, especially amid an economic downturn in the tech sector. The committee is scheduled to finalize its recommendations in June, and then the real politicking will begin. Only one city in America has a reparations plan in place, Evanston, Illinois, an affluent college town bordering Chicago; Boston recently voted to set up a study commission. California has a statewide study commission, which is only in the talking stage, so the rest of the state will be watching San Francisco. The right-wing Hoover Institution at Stanford University says the preliminary numbers being bandied about would cost every non-Black family in the city $600,000 in taxes, while supporters fought back, saying it would benefit the entire city. “Those of my constituents who lost their minds about this proposal, it’s not something we’re doing or we would do for other people. It’s something we would do for our future, for everybody’s collective future,” said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Castro neighborhood. (Jeff Chiu/AP)
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