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California is quickly cementing its place on the bad list amongst states in the union. The leadership has made a conscious decision to prioritize social justice and progressive politics over practicality and common sense, evidenced by their recent move to introduce reparations into the political landscape. It’s hard to ignore such an outrageous issue that could have a serious impact not just on Californians, but the US at large. Unfortunately many are unable to see Californian leadership for what it really is: pandering communists.

The proposal of the San Francisco panel to give out a one-time payment of $5 million to each black resident deemed eligible as recompense is an alarming idea that likely will do far more harm than good. Classic government trying to fix problems with money. Not only will this ill-advised plan drastically affect the state economically, but it also fails to address more robust cultural changes necessary to address the root causes of the so-called “injustices”. It reeks of gesture politics and will do nothing but have people wanting for more handouts.

The New York Post reports, according to a report on Monday, a panel reviewing reparations in San Francisco has proposed paying black residents $5 million as recompense for decades of harm they have suffered.

Fox News Digital reported, “A lump sum payment would compensate the affected population … and will redress the economic and opportunity losses that​ ​Black San Franciscans have endured, collectively, as the result of both intentional decisions and​ ​unintended harms perpetuated by City policy​,” the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee said in a draft report issued last month.

According to the Daily Mail, the proposal could cost the city $50 billion over the next two years, which is roughly the same as its budget for 2022-2023, $14 billion.

Furthermore, the committee proposed wiping out all debt associated with educational loans, personal loans, credit cards, and payday loans.

The 15-member panel was established in May 2021 by San Francisco supervisors. A separate task force created by the California legislature is also examining reparations.

As stated in the city group’s report: “Reparations must be appropriate, effective, prompt, and proportionate to the gravity of the violations.”

It added that members of the black community expect reparations not to “remedy enslavement” but to “address the public policies explicitly created to subjugate Black people​ ​in San Francisco by upholding and expanding the intent and legacy of chattel slavery.”

Even though neither California nor San Francisco “formally adopted chattel slavery,” other aspects of segregation like white supremacy and “systematic repression” were used to exclude black people, including the legal system, “social codes” and “extralegal actions.”

In order to be initially eligible, applicants must be 18 and have identified as black or African American for at least 10 years on public documents. 

It’s beyond me why any person advocating for reparations would think blindly awarding someone free money would actually fix anything. Not only does it incorrectly put the onus of past injustices on people who are completely innocent and had nothing to do with them, it’s set up to fail. Black communities need substantive help that can come in different forms like education, opportunity, health care and the chance to build a sustainable future – not handouts.  For some reason it almost seems like they have the exact same thing we all do, after all they live in America. Being unable to stand up and prevent an idea like this from passing shows what little regard California legislators have for their constituents and people should be both insulted and outraged. Throwing money on what seems to be a cultural problem will not fix it. It will only exacerbate the problem. And that’s the promise. 

Let’s continue this conversation, in the comments below.