OAN Geraldyn Berry
12:08 PM – Friday, May 12, 2023
The California Reparations Task Force has officially recommended that the state legislature repeal a constitutional provision that forbids the government from discriminating against or giving preferential treatment to someone based on their race.
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The task force that was established by legislation signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. (D-Calif.) wants to get rid of Proposition 209, arguing it actually created more racial discrimination.
“Since its passage, Proposition 209 has had a far-reaching impact on efforts to remediate entrenched systemic anti-Black bias and discrimination,” the task force writes in a final report outlining its proposals. “In recognition of the systemic discrimination faced by the African American community and the barriers to justice and repair imposed by Proposition 209, the task force recommends that the legislature take steps within its authority to seek the repeal [of] Proposition 209. This effort must continue until California’s constitution has been cleansed of this or any other measure rooted in racism.”
The conclusion urges efforts to continue “until California’s constitution has been cleansed of this or any other measure rooted in racism.”
In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 209, which is now written into the state constitution. The bill added language to the California Constitution that, in part, reads, “The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.”
The task force’s final recommendations were formally approved last weekend and will now be forwarded to the California Legislature, which will determine whether to enact them and send them to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.
According to Richard Sander, a law professor at UCLA, the number of black graduates at the University of California has increased by 70% since the passage of Proposition 209, and the number of graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics has more than doubled.
However, the task group said in its report that “at every campus,” black candidates were turned down.
On Saturday, the task committee endorsed recommendations in its final report, which is officially submitted to legislators on July 1st.
They featured projections from economists who claim that the government is accountable for more than $500 billion as a result of decades of excessive policing, mass imprisonment, and redlining, which prevented black families from getting loans and residing in particular areas.
The group refrained from supporting particular payment amounts but did advise that “any reparations program include the payment of cash or its equivalent” to qualified residents. It makes no mention of how the state will finance restitution initiatives.
The proposals comes as the state faces a projected $22.5 billion budget deficit.
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By: OAN
