A Black California businessman recommended at a recent public hearing that all Black California citizens be paid $350,000, as the historic California Reparations Task Force gets ready to present its final recommendations for state-level reparations.
The Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals meeting was held on Wednesday, December 14, and was attended by about 60 persons, according to the Associated Press. The nine-member task group has been visiting California for months to become familiar with the generational trauma caused by the state’s racist laws and discriminatory practices.
Enslavement, the economic divide, political independence, mass incarceration, and housing discrimination were all topics of public comment meetings.
The first Black professional triathlete Max Fennell, 35, a businessman, stated during the event that “every person should get $350,000 in compensation to close the racial wealth gap and Black-owned organizations should receive $250,000, which would allow them to grow.
He reportedly told the panel, “It’s a debt that’s owed, we worked for free… we’re not begging; we’re telling you,” According to the Daily Mail. “The tangibles of what I’m asking for are $350,000 per Black American in California, a $250,000 grant for small businesses, and property that is 15-20 acres.”
Also, $225,000 was suggested by an economic study team as California’s “maximum culpability” for the housing discrimination Black residents suffered between 1933 and 1977.
The task team has not yet agreed on a financial figure or specific method of compensation, according to task force chairperson Kamilah Moore.
Read Also- How Dogs React When They Smell Cancer
