Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Thursday issuing an official apology for California’s history of racism, including its involvement in slavery and discriminatory policies.
“The State of California accepts responsibility for the role we played in promoting, facilitating, and permitting the institution of slavery, as well as its enduring legacy of persistent racial disparities,” Newsom said in a statement featured on the governor’s official website.
The bill is part of a reparations package promoting educational-career programs for K-12 students of color, that sought to address the consequences of racist policies and practices historically adopted by California. Despite entering the union in 1850 as a “free state,” fugitive slave laws were still upheld as more than 2,000 enslaved people were brought in, according to The New York Times.
California is leading the country on the subject of reparations. In 2020, Secretary of State and then-Democratic Assemblymember Shirley Weber authored a bill that created the California Reparations Task Force, a team dedicated to analyzing potential solutions regarding California’s part in slavery and other historical harms against Black Americans through reparations.
“It’s fine, it’s a start, and coming from the governor [an apology] isn’t nothing. But he needs to address all of the systemic problems,” USC Black Student Assembly member and Dornsife senior Evan Steele said.
“Keep investing in our community and our programs,” he added.
Despite the formal apology and other elements of the bill, some lawmakers and Black Californians remain frustrated with the lack of direct cash payments as reparations to the descendants of slaves, a solution suggested by the reparations task force nearly two years ago.
“An apology is cute or whatever, but I’m still affected by aspects of slavery. If I don’t see [a] monetary apology, I don’t care,” USC Black Student Assembly member and senior studying theater Alexandria Gee said. “But I already knew California wouldn’t give Black people money when they don’t give any to white people who are homeless on Skid Row. I’m surprised, actually, that we’re the first state to apologize,” she continued.
A U.C. Berkeley study showed that 60% of California voters believe that the effects of slavery are still felt by Black residents, but 59% disagreed that slave descendents should receive cash reparations.
“The best way you can help Black people is by defending us against those who say we don’t need reparations,” Steele said. “There’s going to be people who oppose [cash reparations], how do you help change those minds?”
Newsom came under fire recently for vetoing a bill looking to restore property taken through eminent domain to Black families. He halted the bill, as a reparations agency who would examine these cases was blocked from forming by California lawmakers.
The vetoed bill came in the wake of successful local efforts to return Bruce’s Beach, a piece of land unjustly seized from a Black family during the 1920s, back to them in 2021. Black citizens and legislators are still looking for state-wide implementation of these kinds of land reparations.
“You’re saying all these platitudes, but then when we propose legislation, we make it easy for you, and you veto it,” Steele said. “You show inconsistencies with your policies.”
The consequences of California’s legacy of slavery and racism exist even at USC. Last year, the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work renamed their Office of Field Education to the Office of Practicum Education. The school cited concerns over the racial history of the phrase “field work.”