As California grapples with a historic deficit, radical Democrats in the Golden State have allocated $12 million toward reparations for descendants of Black slaves. Such a proposal comes as the state plans to deal with its $45 billion budget deficit.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has included a whopping $12 million in taxpayer funds in a budget agreement that he announced last week, according to the Washington Examiner.
The latest budget proposal comes after months of debate regarding how to resolve California’s large deficit.
As one would expect, liberals in the state issued a scathing rebuke of Newsom for not allocating more funds to Black individuals.
While speaking to the Sacramento Bee, Kavon Ward called the $12 million figure “a lowball amount.”
Ward is the co-founder of a group that advocates for Black Americans who have had their land lost or stolen called Where Is My Land.
He believes that $12 million is what should have been given to just one person.
“That is a lowball amount, especially given the amount of harm that was done to black people in this state and for the amount of time that it was done,” Ward told the outlet.
The Washington Examiner noted that top Democrats in California praised the $12 million figure, but agreed there is still plenty of work left to be done on the issue of reparations.
California state Sen. Steven Bradford (D) touted the reparations but stressed the need for more.
“We, as the California Legislative Black Caucus, made the case that the harms of slavery and racist public policies aren’t healed,” Bradford said, adding, “This is just the beginning.”
The chairwoman of the Black Caucus, California Assemblywoman Lori Wilson (D), echoed Bradford’s comments in an interview with the Sacramento Bee, celebrating the funding.
Similarly, the executive director of the California Black Power Network, James Woodson, said the figure was just the beginning of “many rounds of investment to repair harm.”
Unlike California Democrats, Republicans in the Golden State criticized Newsom’s reparations proposal.
“It will take an absurd mental gymnastics to require California taxpayers, including new immigrants, low-income workers, and even some African Americans, to pay for a wrong committed by other states more than 150 years ago, but that’s the position Newsom put himself in,” California Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher told Fox Digital.
“No matter what he does, he’s going to put anger part of his base,” Gallagher added.
“This is just one more example of the Governor’s tendency to make big promises he can’t or won’t keep, and people are going to learn quickly that Newsom is all talk but no action,” he continued.
The Washington Examiner noted that most Californians oppose cash reparations.
A poll conducted last year found that just 23% of the state’s residents supported reparations for descendants of Black slaves.
The debate over reparations in California comes as Newsom is being floated as a possible replacement for President Joe Biden in the race to the White House. Although the California governor has publicly supported the president’s bid, his actions have political pundits questioning how committed he truly is to the 81-year-old incumbent president.
