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Is This the Start of Reparations?
California will study and recommend reparations for Black Americans
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a new law creating a task force in charge of developing a detailed plan for granting reparations to Black Americans. CBS reports: “The reparations would not be limited to slavery, but the law requires the task force to give special consideration for Black people who are descendants of slaves.” Reparations for slavery have been debated in the United States for decades. Newsom said, “This is not just about California, this is about making an impact, and a dent, across the rest of the country.”
This plan might well be the sign that tides are turning. As Axios reports: “Thanks to growing momentum and changing attitudes among Americans, Brookings Institution fellow Andre Perry predicts that within 10 years the U.S. will provide some form of reparations to Black people.” Part of what makes him optimistic is that there is now a more diverse coalition than ever before working for reparations.
As Perry put it, reparations are “a moral debt that is owed to Black people.”
