San Francisco Reparations Committee Proposes $5 Million To Each Longtime Black Resident
For those not familiar with what's happening right here in America, buried on page 5, comes news of reparations from sanctuary city of San Francisco. Believe it or not, the city of San Francisco has an "African American Reparations Advisory Committee." I know it seems insane since California was not a slave state and didn't allow slaves and as we know today's black Americans have been given such benefits as "affirmative action," anti-discriminatory housing laws and the generosity of a benevolent society.
It gets even crazier when one considers the economics ot the proposal itself. Those who identify solely as African American make up about 5% of the population, or a little more than 40,000 people. Think about how much $5 million each to 40,000 people amounts to?
"To be eligible for the program, the applicant must be 18 years old and have identified as Black or African American on public documents for at least 10 years. They must also prove at least two of eight additional criteria, choosing from a list that includes, "Born in San Francisco between 1940 and 1996 and has proof of residency in San Francisco for at least 13 years," and/or, "Personally, or the direct descendant of someone, incarcerated by the failed War on Drugs."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/san-frans-reparations-committee-proposes-5-million-each-longtime-black-resident-total-debt-forgiveness?yptr=yahoo
Where is the money going to come from?
The city of San Francisco has long ago squandered its revenues. It is over $700,000 in debt and it has problems with a housing shortage which has forced people to live on boats or in cars or as we have seen in the streets. Municipal Unions have taken a big bite of the budget with salaries & benefits accounting for 45% of the budget. As for the state of California: it is in the same boat.
So, this insidious idea about reparations makes little sense, either morally or economically.
I wonder how many Americans even know this is going on.
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They can't do it yet, but it's being normalized.
I heard of this yesterday. Holy shit all the rain and snow must have soaked the few brain cells there are in the land of fruits and nuts........
The amazing part of it is who would actually be paying the reparations. Do CA Hispanics really want to foot the bill?
Obviously, this will be left for a future city council that has access to money and a compliant constituency.
Just because a 'committee' says so doesn't make it so.
Another Democrat run state with no money making promises they can't keep.
If only half that number meet the necessary qualifications, that's $100 billion dollars right there which is a third of the 2023 state budget. A state budget that is running a deficit. And that's only the population of San Francisco that identified as African American. If it is approved for one city does anybody really think that other cities in the looney state of CA won't do the same? Would their African American citizens allow them to refuse to go along?
Guess Sacramento really needs to tax the rich now...
You know that's not going to happen. I'll bet they come crying with their hands out for additional federal funding for some bullshit.
Why not? Billions of tax dollars get stolen, shipped out of the country to people and nations overseas. Happens everyday somewhere on this planet. Taxpayers balk or don't blink an eye. But, here red-staters are 'vomiting' out their hatred over what blue states do with their funding. Of course, the vicious rhetoric takes no account of what has been done to minorities, because the running 'big lie' is black people are inferior and 'unworthy' of being successful anyway, eh? So predictable.
And red-states wonder why people think they have more than a fair share of racists! Go figure!
Who sends billions of US appropriated dollars overseas?
Why is blue CA 5% Black and red Mississippi 38% Black?
Twenty years of taxpayer funding sent to Afghanistan alone (already).
Why would you ask me that? It implies that Blacks prefer Mississippi? Well, maybe or maybe not. Maybe it is just 'home' and where many leave, many more stay or return ("Home") because that's where 38% of their hearts 'are.'
A different question would be why is Mississippi, with the largest black population, still solidly a red state. That says something about the racial groups there who have not elected a black governor ever! Though, black mayors and officials are "steadily" rising now.
Good luck on getting an answer from Biden or his Administration on that. You get what you voted for. Enjoy!
Always can count on you to ignore the obvious: "The U.S. has dropped a ghastly $146 billion on Afghanistan reconstruction in the last two decades and billions more continue to be spent. . . . "
Twenty years, Texam1211. Count 'em slowly. The 'bad' news is the answers have not been properly provided (I gather) and the 'good' news is Biden will be in office for 2 more years to get through to him!
It's clear you don't want this to be about anything but liberals (Blacks and other minorities). Says something about some conservatives that they try to strictly control the narrative and when failing to do so: Do a 'drive-by.'
If we have billions to spend overseas and on national 'ailments' due to a host of issues; we can spend money to make the persecuted people of this country's past and their children whatever is determined to make them 'whole.' And in the process, heal the perpetual 'hole' in the soul of this nation!
As I can count on you to assume facts not in evidence because that is what you feel about me.
I know what 20 years is, and how to count. Do you need me to count slowly for you?
I bet you never get an answer from Biden on it. Not his style to answer questions anyways. His handlers have experienced first-hand what happens when Biden goes off-script.
You got 'Biden fever': I don't have any thing to help with that one. This was not about Biden (though he is mentioned by the conservative media/writer of the article. The focus is this: billions sent out of the country to other countries, so surely if we can do that-we can help those who have been perpetually under-served by our U.S. systems.
Talk later. Bye.
No.
No one asked.
Yes, so I am sure you can imagine my surprise when you introduced a link discussing how the Biden Administration is blocking an audit of how those billions have been spent.
That is your focus, certainly not the focus of the article. How dare you chastise me for talking about Biden because YOU say the article mentions him but he isn't the focus (true) but then you go off on some wild-assed tangent about how money is spent on other things when that isn't the point of the article either.
That's hypocritical.
Please point out exactly how you have been perpetually underserved by our US systems and what your expectations of that service you should be getting.
Sorry to always ask for clarification from you but I'm never sure what you mean with your original comments. Are you trying to justify reparations because of foriegn aid?
Just pathetic as watching paint dry.
Texan1211 you can't dispute the expenditures because they have already occurred across twenty plus years. It does not matter who reports this INFORMATION or who is not doing what in the present to be transparent. To answer Drinker's question: The answer is supplied in 2.1.8 !
So you can continue to try to deflect away from the ANSWER to a new 'goalpost' about Biden and I will just continue to observe how RIGID and hot ("Biden Fever") you appear to be in discussing issues with others.
Perhaps you should actually read what I write. Seems you often think I have said something I haven't and attempt to argue your invention.
The only deflection is yours. You can't refute the facts and try to invent things.
It is not my fault you won't or by now can't recognize that a proper discussion is an exchange between mutual sharers and not just for your private benefit. I owe you nothing more than trying to get to the bottom of a topic instead of 'striving' on the surface of it!
No one said you owed me. Care to debate one damn thing I have actually said, or just content to argue your inventions?
I reject your victim card.
Because neither you nor anyone you know has ever been a slave.
As much as I'm sure you would love $5m of somebody else's money, it isn't yours.
I'm guessing the irony of this statement has eluded you.
So what? You think state governments and national leaders think blacks are slaves today? I mean really, Jack_TX what are you after with that remark? Why the pretense that some conservatives put forward that they can't understand proper reasoning? Did you read the 'S F reparations. . . ' presentation I put forward at 8.1.4; 8.1.5, and 8.1.6 with a link? Or are you just 'phoning' in with a lack of educating yourself about the arguments put forward by the committee on reparations?
What are you doing here?
I won't gratify an appetite just to argue your EMOTIONAL dislike for helping minorities if it cost the nation something; and, evidently there are others who think some conservatives are letting their nastiness out on this matter too.
I don't live in San Francisco, California. So now what? I won't be getting a 'check' or a credit of any kind from this. In fact, I don't even hold out hope that S. F. minorities will be getting anything (kind of like the byword: "Forty-acres and a mule" [promised that has become a myth) but talk.
My point is that some conservatives don't have anything to say about it, since it is the duties and responsibilities of civil leaders to determine who/what/when the treasury can act on any civil payouts!
If that is not clear enough. Try this: I don't have a 'dog' in this fight. And neither do you evidently. So why be nasty and say it's other people money? Why DILUTE yourself into accepting right-wing smears that blacks are a drain on the funds of this country, when even in red states you can see blacks adding to the surplus economy everyday!
You conservatives lie when you say you don't divide the nation; because that is precisely what you are doing when you write the quote above!
Of course! It is a standard practice of yours to outright and blanket reject anything a liberal/liberals put forth. Moreover, you have all the 'standard' right-wing talking points to buoy up your so-called, "policy position."
When it is as stupid of an idea as reparations, yes, I reject them.
Put forth something remotely sane and you might get a little support.
And for God's sake, stop pretending that conservatives are doing something different than what liberals do.
Don't bother invoking a Deity you don't/won't confess! Because if you do you will have to answer with more substance and meaning than I have ever read coming out of one of your 'bot-like' comments. And nope, I am not saying you are a/or use a bot. . . I am just saying the repetition of your replies is bot-like.
[deleted]
Say whatever you choose, I am sure it will stand no matter what, just don't bother replying to me again unless you want to discuss something I have actually said.
I will not participate in your imagination.
I don’t know, I’ve never sat and watched it, I don’t like the odor.
So the idea that black people today deserve reparations is complete nonsense.
Your difficulty is that they are quite capable of differentiating between "proper reasoning" and whatever it is you're attempting here.
"Minorities"?? Really??? Will there be "reparations" for Mexicans? Jews? Asians? Indians? Any other minority group? No?
So this is really just about black people.
It does not change the self-serving nature of your opinion. If it can happen in San Fransisco, it can happen other places.
They have every bit as much to say about it as you do.
Ah yes. Any deviation from strict leftist dogma is "divisive" or "triggering" or "hate speech". Riiiiiiight.
What does surplus economy mean?
I never do.
just one of those meaningless terms bandied about by some media and some liberals.
You won't get an answer.
It would also be nice if some of the racist minorities would get what is coming to them.
Take if from someone who was once a white kid constantly racing through the streets of Detroit being chased by black gang members who wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out me due to my skin color (Or lack of it. I was pretty damn white back then. Carried a nickname of Casper.)
I received several free rides from the police home after the beatings. Must have been my "white privilege" paying off./S
Funny part is that I have a decent amount of most races in heritage, including African. I am a true American mutt. But I look white; so I guess it was ok since a minority was doing the beating. Leftists would claim that I was making personal reparations.
There is one person here on NT that tell you that is was, in fact "ok".
"My point is that some conservatives don't have anything to say about it."
Some conservatives? If it were my tax dollars helping to pay for it, damn right I would have something to say about it. Just another reason I'm so glad I do not live in the cesspool known as San Francisco and it's surrounding areas!
Does not bother me at all if all bad actors get their just desserts, Dennis. How about you: Does it bother you if some bad actors get theirs? Stop taking power to affect the lives of others for granted, as if it is some God-given right granted to some whites because of their 'superior' perception of themselves. Very little, relatively speaking, of what is accomplished in this country is solely brought about because of some whites who attempt to 'lord' over the umbrella of labor and ideas which makes this country. . . a superpower. As is the case from the beginning of this. . . journey. . . we've all pitched in and we won't let some whites try to take all the 'glory' unto themselves!
I don't know what the "h" you are talking about. There is enough personal and private ignorance in this country to go 'around' and we all deal with it in one form or another. The issue of reparations for a whole group (or in part depending on who is proposing what) is about what a nation did in setting back its citizens BEFORE and AFTER granting citizenship to the group/s.
If you have a claim and you can prove it, more power to you. Go and do it at the appropriate time. Other than that, your "looking white," let me put it this way, in the larger scheme-especially if you are a person of a certain age has benefited you BEFORE AND AFTER "racing through the streets of Detroit being chased by black gang members."
A personal story can be effective, but it can also be overdone. This is a case of the latter.
Exact same with me, but I grew up on the Mexican border.
People who are perpetual victims should do something.
Some liberals never learn.........
I don't care about your vain and empty rhetoric, Texan1211. It's tired. But, if you must do it, by all means go big or stay at home. I will tell you and every other MAGAn what he/she needs to know as often as I deem it suitable and helpful to discussions. That's all I have for you right now.
Your complete dismissal of his story is telling. Not to me because I already know your modus operandi but perhaps to that one new person reading here.
Good, I don't care about some liberals playing perpetual victims.
Yes, I have seen you tell me what I think repeatedly here, why would you change?
As far as helpful and suitable, I would be happy if the comments were just on topic and not full of 'some conservative' bullshit.
Great! I ain't buying what you're selling.
Whatever the "h" you appear out of 'thin air' to blurt out, this is all the time I intend to waste on it:
Some conservatives see problems (with liberals) everywhere. It's really remarkably sad and pathetic. We can not make peace together as I have concluded some conservatives are factually crazy, and I have had it up to my eyeballs with the 'parlor - propaganda' games they play here. Modus operandi indeed. No one can fracture your MO because you don't put anything out there worthwhile for consideration. Some conservatives come off as 'plastic placeholders' making shallow and sketchy comments on the internet. Oh yes, lest I forget your signature sign-off: SSDD.
OMG ..... H E Double Toothpicks, yours is such a weak,weak response .... OMG ....
. . . . SSDD. (Try to be less predictable.)
Do you mean less predictable than victim cards, "some conservatives" rants, and how everyone who is a minority are victims?
Don't let it worry you, Texan1211.
You have no ability to make me worry about anything!
Ditto.
Yes, they should get squashed cakes, sour pies and overcooked cookies.
A desert is that which is deserved. Bad actors should get their just deserts.
The boogieman is out to get all you right wingers.
You've advocated for it in the past. Now it's not real?
Reparations lives rent free in conservative heads.
So you are not in agreement with the premise of this article then.
You were the one who said we can do it and it would help minorities leave the cities.
Remember?
Constantly denying reality is not the winning hand you seem to think it is.
What I think is that reparations lives rent free in conservatives heads. It is their boogieman.
No one is going to be given 5 million dollars each.
They do succeed in messing with your minds though.
What reality is that?
Not now. However it actually got to the level of being a possibility.
That threshold should never be breached.
It’s moving the Overton window to normalize race based reparations.
That is exactly how I see it.
You’ve obviously hit a nerve, now the front page is being flooded with years old articles trying to deflect from this.
Oh yes, countering inconvenient truths has become a cottage industry.
There was also a time when the thought of California banning gasoline-powered vehicles was thought to be nothing to worry about. Yet they did it. Starting in 2035 California has them banned.
When they tell us it will never happen, that's the time to push back!
Been the MO for a couple weeks now.
When they tell us it will never happen, that's the time to push
Who would ever think men should be allowed to play women’s sports! That’ll never happen.
I watched a kid's school basketball game last week. It was for 5-6 year olds with both boys and girls on each team. No score was kept although it had referees and used the standard rules, though the baskets were lower than standard (understandably). What stood out to me from that game was that one boy on one of the teams had zeroed in on the opposing girl players and every time one of them had possession of the ball, he would steal it from her and break away with it. He was only 6 years old and he knew that he could easily dominate the girls.
(I had to try and control the disgust in my face in front of all the parents & grandparents.)
If that were true, why is it that only Democrat politicians and their followers approve of it?
So why are the San Francisco liberal "leaders" seriously proposing it?
It appears to be actively alive and well in their empty heads...and rent free,
That's really nothing new.
Bingo!
Some liberals are trying to buy votes is all.
I guess some conservatives are too smart to fall for that crap.
It is typical of some conservatives to try to counter-narrative everything a liberal/liberals propose to do. Of course, conservatives want liberals to "fall-in" (in a secondary role) behind them. Of course, conservatives don't want to 'advance' minorities because some conservatives denigrate and diminish minorities every day. This is "opportune" for some conservatives to pouch on and opine about, even though it has little to do with red-state politics. Some conservatives bend over backwards to interfere and stick their BIG NOSES in San Francisco's business, because "h" they are busying ignoring and otherwise persuading minorities into a head-fake that they too can have freedom and liberty—as much (and no more) than any conservative
W-h-a-t?
Don't worry about it.
I could never worry about trying to get any type of logical explanation for this statement:
Prove me wrong.
Don't worry about it.
I never worry about some liberals making wild, untrue claims and being incapable of proving said claims!
Why would I worry about that?
Don't worry about it. It's all going to be over one day.
I keep telling you I don't worry. What part is eluding you?
Ah, the end time is drawing near!
So which is not true?
There is a African American Reparations Advisory Committee or they did recommend 5 million in reparations?
Baba Yaga aka John Wick?
This is where the insanity pushed by racialists who believe what happened to someone’s ancestors hundreds of years ago controls the present inevitably leads. They’ve indoctrinated a generation that’s grown up with unlimited opportunities into believing that they are nothing but victims whose destiny is controlled by their skin color.
As history trudges on the old victims are shoved aside to make space for the "we shall not be replaced" crowd ...
Ah yes, oppressors and victims: history according to Zinn
as well as CRT and DEI.
At a certain point people just need to move on. We are now several generations from anyone who was a slave, and even those who directly suffered from Jim Crow are aging out of the population.
Sure there are lingering effects from both slavery and Jim Crow but are they really so bad that one can legitimately argue that black people today, especially younger black people deserve financial restitution for no other reason than being black? And plus how do you even determine what an appropriate amount of compensation is?
Teach about slavery and Jim Crow, acknowledge our nations failures along with its successes, learn from the past and try to be better in the future. That is all we can really do to try and right past wrongs. Just throwing out money to someone because of the color of their skin is only going to generate more animosity, not less.
And that kinda shit right there is what I was talking about in my post below. You are not here for a serious conversation, you are here to be a [REMOVED] and as such I will treat you like one.
Make retarded comments and I will treat you like a [REMOVED]
The Tooth Fairy ... aka taxpayers, even those who keep voting for this crap ... where else?
Well, that's one way to clear the public assistance rolls. Over a 40 year period, that would amount to $125k income per year which is well above the poverty level. And, as income, it would be subject to income tax. Clearing the public assistance rolls would allow reducing the number of government employees, too.
Better take a closer look. These reparation proposals could actually save a lot of public money over the long term. While it does appear to be a lot of money, the government will be able claw back quite a bit of it through taxes, fewer government employees would lower costs (especially retirement costs), and the outlays for public assistance would be reduced. Overall these proposals may not cost any more than the current public assistance programs.
Wow, what a racist assumption?
Only 10,500 of San Fransisco's 47,000 black population lives below the poverty line and there is simply no proof that they all collect welfare or any other public assistance.
Only if everyone on public assistance were black, which is simply not the case.
Whites, Hispanic and Asians account for 60%
Black or African American account for only 7.7%.
Poverty in San Francisco | City Performance Scorecards (sfgov.org)
So guess again?
How many of those 10,500 will be below poverty level after receiving reparations? Reparations will eliminate the city's outlays for housing assistance, medical assistance, food security, and income security for those 10,500. Schools won't be serving an impoverished population. How many government case workers can be eliminated?
The city can convert it's current outlays for public assistance into reparations as an annual stipend and then claw back some of those reparations through taxes. Reparations will reduce the number of government employees serving an impoverished population because that population won't be impoverished any longer. The cost of reparations really will be offset by savings from current public assistance programs.
If paid out over 40 years, how many of those would still have money left after just a few weeks? If a lump sum, how many would have money left after 5 years? People who are below the poverty level have had no education or experience with money and will be easy targets for all sorts of scams and sad sack stories. I submit that there are plenty of people who if given money would not be able to change their status anyway.
Roughly half based on the fact that half are over 65 and presumably on SS and Medicare, so no savings there.
Assuming 10,500 is faulty logic.
The suggested eligibility range was for people aged 82 to 26 who have resided in SF for at least 13 years which should eliminate any more school issues you can imagine.
Probably none since they are all probably Union members of SFCWU.
You are talking about 0.0113% of the population of SF.
I understand the theory you are pushing. Yes in theory you could trade certain benefits
or entitlements for a one time bolus or a secondary income stream
and let them thrive or die.
But at least in San Francisco, the numbers just don't support the theory.
If Lottery winners are any evidence, only 30% retain any winnings beyond 5 years.
I don't think it's limited to just poor people.
True, an annuity is the only thing that works for most people and unfortunately
there are ways around that as well, as evidenced by the commercials for the
"It's my money and I want it now" opera singers.
The criteria states that an applicant need be only 18-years-old. I've never known someone that age who was mature/savvy enough to know how to manage/invest $5M on his/her own ... especially those in the last 2 generations, who typically live paycheck to paycheck (IF they even deign to work) and racked up explosive amounts of credit card debt.
Dumb. I get the argument for reparations to a degree, but there is no feasible way to do it, and just throwing money at someone because they are black is absurd.
Please explain, because I'd really like to understand your rationale as to why a 20th/21st century Black American who was never a slave has the right to claim "slavery reparations" from Americans whose ancestors never owned slaves OR weren't even living in the US in the 19th century.
A lot of wealth was generated from slavery, and of course the slaves never saw a penny of it nor had the opportunity to benefit from their labor in any way. As such they were never able to pass any wealth along to their children or grand children, thus causing future generations to start at a substantial disadvantage. And of course Jim Crow further denied former slaves and their children the ability to amass any substantial wealth or status in society.
That being said, those who were directly affected by both those are either gone or on their way out, and things have steadily improved for black Americans since the 60s. While discrimination still exists, young black folks don’t face nearly the same barriers their ancestors did and should not be paid reparations due to the abuse their ancestors suffered IMO.
Once you start down that path it never ends. Acknowledge past wrongs and try to do better, payments made 158 years late will do nothing but generate more animosity and resentment.
So again, I get the argument to a degree, but do not think reparations are they way to rectify past wrongs.
Thank you for your thoughtful, educated reply. I truly appreciate it.
I am more than happy to have a real conversation provided the other person is interested in a real conversation. As soon as hyperbole, whataboutism, and deflecting to another topic are introduced I know the conversation is no longer serious.
I. California State Reparations Task Force
In September 2020, Assembly Bill 3121 (AB3121) was enacted in California to establish the Task Force to study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans. Authored by then-Assemblymember Dr. Shirley Weber, the bill sought to educate Californians about the history of slavery, its generational impact, and create a roadmap for how states may provide reparations to descendants of chattel slavery. This legislation is a significant shift in truth and reconciliation, as no state has provided reparations for the legal institution of slavery or its legacy of anti-Black discrimination. Even after slavery was abolished, the racial caste system of white supremacy that justified the American slave trade remained intact, and continued to relegate the Black community to the status of second-class citizens.
As a result, African Americans continue to face disproportionate adversity in almost all sectors of life. As written in the CA state task force interim report “[w]ithout a remedy specifically targeted to dismantle our country’s racist foundations and heal the injuries inflicted by colonial and American governments, the ‘badges and incidents of slavery’ will continue to harm African Americans in almost all aspects of life” (Interim Report Executive Summary 6).
The California Reparations Task Force was formed in the effort to accomplish three specific goals:
1. To study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans
2. To recommend appropriate ways to educate the California public of the task force findings
3. To recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the Task Force’s findings
The Task Force is projected to be in place through July 2023 to complete their phased process.
In June 1, 2021, the panel approved that a report would be issued in two parts, including the following topics:
1. Part 1, published June 1st 2022:
a. Institution of Slavery
b. Racial Terror
c. Disenfranchisement
d. Housing Segregation
e. Education Inequality
f. Environmental Inequality
g. Arts and Culture
h. Family
i. Health
j. Discrimination in Labor
k. Criminal Justice
l. Gap in Wealth Accumulatio n
continued . . . . from 8.1.4 .
In June 2022, the Task Force produced an Interim Report that documents the institution of slavery,
the creation and maintenance of a white supremacy racial caste system, its impact on African
Americans, and begins to outline what is owed to Black descendants of chattel slavery. In order
to educate the California public on both the national and statewide history of anti-Black racial
discrimination, the report details white supremacist hatred, torture, lynching and other forms of
extreme racial violence towards Black people. “The interim report focuses on anti-Black, racist
federal, state, and local government actions and negligence throughout American history and into
the modern day.”
Citing international law and the United Nations, the report emphasizes that when a government is
responsible for wrongful actions or negligence that causes injustice to a specific group of people,
it has a duty to remedy those actions. Within the American court system, it is well recognized that
parties must provide redress for the harms caused by their actions or omissions where there was
a duty to act. This report houses quantitative data and qualitative narratives of the harm done to
Black communities, the impact of racially discriminatory policy, and provides preliminary reparations
recommendations to seek acknowledgement, redress, and closure for the existing injustice.
In addition to listing harms that took place in the United States, the report focuses on California’s
responsibility in anti-Black discrimination, and, in particular, documents the multiple tactics that the
San Francisco Bay Area used to discriminate against African Americans, as well as the historic and
current conditions of the city’s Black communities.
In the early days of California’s founding, Black Americans experienced crime without the ability to
seek recourse through the legal justice system. The California Supreme Court categorically barred
any testimony from Black people. Facing discrimination from both codified laws and vigilante white
citizens, Black communities left en masse in the early days of California’s founding in search of peace
and freedom. Between 1850 and 1860, nearly 200 Black families in San Francisco fled to the British
colonies to avoid persecution within the state.
Racial terror was a primary method used to discourage Black citizens from exercising their rights.
Shortly after the release of Birth of a Nation in the 1920’s, the Ku Klux Klan established a San
Francisco chapter, becoming the first iteration of the group in California. Group members held
rallies, initiation events, and public parades that were attended by thousands. The California KKK
gained significant political influence during their resurgence through positions of power. Members
exerted their authority as elected officials, district attorneys, and police officers. Law enforcement
from nearly every California city had a KKK influence, including 25 San Francisco police officers.
14 D R A F T S A N F R A N C I S C O R E P A R A T I O N S P L A N
Scare tactics like harassment, vandalism, and arson were common tools used against Black
Americans. The prevalence of white supremacy ideology created an atmosphere of fear for both
Black citizens and white sympathizers that saw the racial caste system as morally unjust. At the
same time, those who benefitted from the racial hierarchy were able to maintain their role as
bystanders and reap the benefits. “The violence and subsequent silence surrounding the crimes
committed against Black Californians demonstrates how white Californians viewed Black presence
and homeownership as a threat to white dominance” (Interim Report 186).
Since its conception, the police department has harassed, brutalized, and killed African Americans at
disproportionate rates than any other race. The stereotypes created to support slavery have shaped
the modern day implicit biases against the Black population in the American public and within
the police force. In the Bay Area, police brutality became such a prevalent concern that the Black
Panther Party for Self-Defense, later known as the Black Panther Party, formed to protect African
Americans from the police in the 1960s. One study found that 27 percent of the people killed in the
San Francisco Bay Area were Black residents, even though they only comprised seven percent of the
total population at the time.
Most of the suburbs in San Francisco were known as “sundown towns,” where Black people
were prohibited from living or being present after sunset. Racially-restrictive covenants were
commonplace throughout the city, which stipulated that only allowed white residents were allowed
to live on the property described within deeds. These redlining practices were enforced in California
as late as the 1940’s. Even after the U.S. Supreme Court case Shelley v. Kraemer deemed racially
restrictive covenants unconstitutional in 1948, housing discrimination continued. Twenty years
later, in an attempt to eliminate discriminatory housing practices, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 was
passed. Despite its intention, the act was largely ineffective. The Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) could not investigate complaints of discrimination, and lacked the enforcement
authority to penalize the lawbreaker. Because of this, housing discrimination continued into the
1970s and 1980s. In 1988, an Amendment was passed to reinforce the policy. This allowed HUD
to initiate and pursue complaints, with steeper penalties for cases of discrimination. Though this
change corrected inefficiencies in the 1968 Fair Housing Act, it had little impact on the decades of
discrimination that racially segregated San Francisco. The legacy created from redlining and other
discriminatory housing policies has placed a higher energy burden on African Americans, more
than any other racial group. Today, Black homeowners pay more for residential energy bills, which
can be attributed to the older, energy-insufficient housing African Americans were relegated to for
generations.
Pages 13 and 14
Continued . . . . from 8.1.4 .
In 1945, California passed the Community Redevelopment Act, which allowed for the destruction
and redevelopment of “blighted areas” in the community. Each of the conditions that legally defined
blight were products of the harms of residential segregation. Buildings in the neighborhoods where
Black San Franciscans were legally able to live were more likely to be overcrowded or in poorer
conditions than the spaces restricted by racial covenants. Under the guise of urban development,
the City of San Francisco declared the Western Addition blighted, which provided just cause to
destroy a large portion of the Fillmore. Prior to its destruction, the Fillmore was known as the Harlem of the West;
an integrated neighborhood that was famous for its jazz venues and social clubs, and
hosted artists from the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and more.
In total, the demolition closed 883 businesses, displaced 4,729 households, destroyed 2,500 Victorian homes, and
damaged the lives of nearly 20,000 people. In its aftermath, the city left the destroyed plots of land
empty for years. Despite the efforts of civil rights advocates and the passage of progressive bills like
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act, federal courts still found that San Francisco city
housing authorities discriminated and maintained segregation.
To this day, Black-owned homes are valued significantly less than white-owned homes within the
San Francisco metropolitan area. A study in 2020 found that Black-owned homes are devalued by 29
percent compared to their white-owned counterparts. This trend makes Black neighborhoods and
homes particularly vulnerable to gentrification.
The urban renewal and gentrification that took place in San Francisco has created generational
impact and decimated Black communities. One study from the National Community Reinvestment
Coalition found that San Francisco was one of the most rapidly gentrifying cities from 2013-2017.
Almost 90 percent of the currently gentrified areas in San Francisco were formerly redlined or
deemed “definitely declining” by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation. As a result of segregation,
redevelopment, and rent spikes, the Black community has been forced to relocate from the city.
In the 1970s, ten percent of San Francisco’s population identified as Black, compared to the five
percent today.
Pages 14 and 15
Continued . . . . from 8.1.4 .
Impact of Proposition 209
The destruction and disregard of Black owned business is prevalent to this day. In most major
metro areas across the country, including San Francisco, businesses in majority-white areas receive
federal loans at a greater rate than businesses in majority-African American areas. An ongoing
hindrance in California to equitable access in government contracting for Black people, women,
and other marginalized identities is Proposition 209, a 1996 constitutional amendment banning
affirmative action. Initially passed by a margin of 10 points, the stated intention of Prop. 209 was to
ban discrimination and preferential treatment based on race, sex, and national origin, among other
things.
The passage of Proposition 209 undermines Black-owned businesses that seek to obtain public
contracts with the State of California and local governments. The consequences of Prop. 209’s
passage has been the systematic exclusion of people of color and women. After its passage in
1996, Prop. 209 caused state and local governments to end race-conscious contracting programs,
which led to the loss of about $1billion every year for minority and women-owned businesses. Prior
to the bill passage in the fiscal year 1994-1995, $519 million was allocated to minority and women
owned-businesses. When California ended the program, only a few businesses got their contracts
with the state back, and some never recovered. Additionally, Prop. 209 has had adverse impacts for
Black and brown people seeking access to public employment and initiated a precipitous decline
in enrollment in California’s University of California system. In the City and County of San Francisco,
about $200 million per year was lost in minority and women-owned contracts. This loss was caused by
both Prop 209 and the 2004 Coral Construction Case, which ended San Francisco’s race-
conscious procurement program.
Pages 15and 16
Are there any Black people left in San Francisco?
You let me know when you check on it.
In 1990, Blacks were 10.9% of SF's population, today they are 5.1%.
I know about it, but that is a separate point that is remote to this topic. Can we get back to it, before we 'stray' and dilute it farther?
Where do you want to go?
A link will be fine.
They do not deserve anything and nobody deserves to be taxed to pay for such foolishness.