By Antonio Ray Harvey
Contributing Writer
SACRAMENTO — A debate over reparations for Black Californians became heated earlier this month when an Orange County legislator called proposed legislation to fund reparations and restorative justice “fundamentally unfair.
Assemblywoman Kate Sanchez, R-Rancho Santa Margarita, a member of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, said she opposed Senate Bill 1331, also known as the Fund for Reparations and Restorative Justice, because California’s Asians and Latinos, who make up 55% of the state population, are not responsible for slavery, discrimination or Jim Crow laws.
“The pain of our past should not be paid by people of today,” Sanchez said.
Assemblywoman Ash Kalra, D-San José, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, disagreed with Sanchez, reminding her and other members of the committee that “the country became a superpower based on free labor” and “Black families … did not ask if it was OK to take their wealth, enslave them or put their children in poverty.”
“We recognize it,” Kalra said, nearly breaking into tears. “I know it’s not going to be easy. It’s not supposed to be easy to actually admit what you’ve caused pain when you try to repair and heal that pain. And yes, we still benefit to this day from what happened to our brothers and sisters in the Black community so many generations ago.”
During a panel discussion June 15 in San Diego, organized by the Black Freedom Fund in partnership with the California Legislative Black Caucus, Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Gardena, criticized some Republican colleagues in the Legislature who uniformly and consistently vote no on reparations-focused legislation.
“Some of our Republican colleagues have taken it upon themselves to make this a very political issue, voting no on all our bills,” Gipson said. “They are also casting lies on how much these bills are going to cost and talking about the immigrant status and how they are not a part of what happened in California. So, it’s our responsibility to educate our colleagues on what’s going on.”
SB 1331 is one of four reparations bills that the Senate and Assembly reviewed in various committees and voted to advance.
Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8 made it out of the Senate Public Safety Committee June 11 on a 4-1 vote. The legislation is on its way to the Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments.
Authored by Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, ACA 8 seeks to abolish the language “involuntary servitude” from the state’s constitution, effectively prohibiting slavery of any form in the prison system.
“We have an opportunity to step in the direction that ends that legacy (of slavery in California),” said Wilson, the chairperson of the Legislative Black Caucus. “This bill throughout its history has enjoyed no opposition on record or testifying against it. I believe it is really consistent with California’s values and it’s time we showed it in writing and not just within talks.”
If the bill passes out of the Senate, it will be sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature and placed on the general election ballot in November.
Wilson’s legislation is one of 14 reparations bills introduced by the California Legislative Black Caucus earlier this year. The package addresses the recommendations the California Reparations Task Force made last year in its 1,100-page final report.
ACA 8 is the legislative successor of ACA 3 — the California Abolition Act — aimed at removing slavery from California law.
It was first authored by then-Sen. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles, but the bill failed by a 21-6 vote on the Senate floor in June 2023.
Kamlager-Dove was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives after Karen Bass vacated the seat to run for mayor of Los Angeles. She still monitors the bill that Wilson picked up when she left the Senate.
Kamlager-Dove is currently working to remove similar language regarding voluntary servitude from the U.S. Constitution.
“The exceptions for slavery and involuntary servitude in both the California Constitution and the 13th Amendment are moral disgraces that need to be addressed at both federal and state levels,” Kamlager-Dove said in a written statement to California Black Media. “In Congress, I proudly reintroduced the Abolition Amendment to amend the U.S. Constitution and abolish slavery once and for all. We must sustain this momentum at the state level. I urge swift passage of ACA 8 to end prison labor in California.”
In addition to Wilson’s ACA 8 bill, a number of reparations bills are advancing in the Legislature.
In addition to SB 1331, the Assembly Judiciary Committee voted to pass three of state Sen. Steven Bradford’s reparations bills, as of June 12. The bills are Senate Bill 1403, which would establish the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency, and SB 1050, which would compensate families that lost property to eminent domain.
SB 1403 and SB 1331 are not part of the Legislative Black Caucus’ reparations package.
Assemblyman Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, voted no on SB 1403 and SB 1331, but voted yes on SB 1050.
“I think eminent domain should be extremely limited,” said Patterson, the vice chair of the Assembly Housing Committee. “I am 100% for something where you say you have to be compensated for fair-market value if the government is going to take your property. Because of that, I am going to support this measure.”
Antonio Ray Harvey is a reporter for California Black Media.
