by Laurel Duggan
The City of San Francisco is considering a reparations plan that would give $5 million lump sum payments to each eligible black person, according to its 2022 draft plan.
Recipients are required to be 18 or older, to have identified as black or African American on public documents for at least ten years and to meet at least two qualifications from a list of possible relationships one may have with incidents such as drug-related incarceration or slavery, according to the proposal. The proposal also recommends that the city formally apologize for past wrongdoings, establish a new city office to execute the plan and create a committee to “ensure equity and continuity in the implementation of relevant policy initiatives.”
The @SFHumanRights Commission & the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee are pleased to invite community to review the DRAFT SF Reparations Plan.
Read @ https://t.co/bihNk3TLWx………Public listening sessions are projected to be convened soon (TBA). pic.twitter.com/W8OVxxgzwx
— SF Human Rights (@SFHumanRights) January 13, 2023
“San Francisco’s international reputation as a shining progressive gem in the west is undermined by its legacy of mistreatment, violence towards, and targeted racism against Black Americans. While neither San Francisco, nor California, formally adopted the institution of chattel slavery, the values of segregation, white supremacy and systematic repression and exclusion of Black people were legally codified and enforced,” the proposal reads.
People can be eligible for reparations payouts if they were incarcerated in the “failed War on Drugs” or are descended from someone who was, if they descended from someone who was enslaved in chattel slavery prior to 1865 or if they were displaced by the city’s 1954-1973 urban renewal project or descend from someone who was, so long as they meet at least two qualifications on the list, according to the proposal.
Other qualifications include being born in or migrating to San Francisco between 1940 and 1996 and residing there for at least 13 years, experiencing certain forms of discrimination in the housing market and attending San Francisco public schools prior to their complete desegregation, according to the proposal.
The city has spent lavishly on programs to address homelessness in recent years, including a $160 million housing program which provided 70 rooms in a rat-infested hotel plagued with violent crime, drug overdoses and serious sanitation issues, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
San Francisco has more than 7,700 homeless residents and pours $160 million annually into permanent housing programs; residents complain of open-air drug use, frequent car break-ins, theft, public defecation and harassment, the outlet reported.
The Human Rights Commission, which put together the proposal, and Democratic San Francisco Mayor London Breed did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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Laurel Duggan is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Young African American Female” by Rebrand Cities. Photo “Young African American Male” by Thirdman. Background Photo “San Francisco Skyline” by Supercarwaar. CC BY-SA 4.0.
