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California is set to release a groundbreaking report that details discrimination against Black people dating back to slavery and calls for "comprehensive reparations."
On Wednesday (June 1), a sweeping report by a California task force will extensively outline the centuries of Black oppression that started in the 1600s with slavery and has continued into the present day. The report will include ways to fix the "horrors and harms" that Black Americans in California have historically faced and pave the way for financial reparations along with extensive reforms in housing, education, and the justice system, USA Today reports.
California's slave reparations task force is the first of its kind in the U.S. Although the recommendations to close the equality gap are specific to the state of California, the task force hopes it will set a precedent for nationwide reparations efforts.
The task force's panel, made up of nine members, says Wednesday's report is the first government-commissioned outline of transgressions against Black Americans since 1968's Kerner Commission.
Lisa Holder, a member of the task force, said to USA Today, "The depth, breadth, and scope of the report is astounding." Holder added, "We are evaluating racism beginning in 1619 and going all the way to the present … and connecting (past) injustices to injustice that we are seeing today."
According to USA Today, a draft version of the report highlights "the horrors and harms against Black Americans in California and the nation," which has caused a huge wealth gap that the task force argues can begin to be closed with reparation payments.
The California report also states that the legacy of slavery remains "embedded in the political, legal, health, financial, educational, cultural, environmental, social and economic systems of the United States."
"Segregation, racial terror, harmful racist neglect, and other atrocities in nearly every sector of civil society have inflicted harms, which cascade over a lifetime and compound over generations," the report continues.
Following the release of Wednesday's report, recommendations for the size, structure, and logistics of a reparation plan will be unveiled next year. These plans will be handed over to California's legislature and governor who will make the final decision on reparation specifics.
Holder said, "We're really trying to correct the historical record, to reimagine the narrative in a way that is truly inclusive of people of color."
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