The city tasked a reparations committee to think of the best way to atone for slavery and systemic racism. What was their solution? Over 100 recommendations including $5 million payments to all eligible Black adults.
This reparations proposal is the greatest push in the fight for atonement across the country. No other proposal has matched the ambition of this one. But there are holes in the city’s proposed plan.
There has been no cost analysis done for this proposal making the true cost uncertain. Because of this, critics are questioning if the $5 million number is real. Surprisingly one of the city’s loudest critics is the San Francisco NAACP.
The local NAACP chapter has casted doubt on the proposal arguing that the payment plan will likely not be upheld and is instead giving Black residents false hope. Instead, The NAACP is calling on the city to create programs focused on five key areas including education, economic empowerment, housing, healthcare, and the preservation of the historic Fillmore Heritage Center.
Black people aren’t settling for any handout that the system throws at us. We need not only cash payments, but direct action put into improving our communities. For now, we must build and take care of each other until we reach liberation.