San Francisco reparations committee proposes $5 million to each eligible black resident

San Francisco's reparations committee, convened in 2021, has proposed that black, longtime residents be given $5 million and debt forgiveness due to the city's history of "systemic repression."

The San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee's draft report addresses "the public policies explicitly created to subjugate Black people in San Francisco by upholding and expanding the intent and legacy of chattel slavery." California has never been a slave state.



"While neither San Francisco, nor California, formally adopted the institution of chattel slavery, the tenets of segregation, white supremacy and systematic repression and exclusion of Black people were codified through legal and extralegal actions, social codes, and judicial enforcement," the draft states.

The specific recommended actions listed includes providing a one-time, lump sum payment of $5 million to each eligible person, with the rationale being that "A lump sum payment would compensate the affected population for the decades of harms that they have experienced, and will redress the economic and opportunity losses that Black San Franciscans have endured, collectively, as the result of both intentional decisions and unintended harms perpetuated by City policy."

The draft also proposes that the income of African-Americans be supplemented to reflect the area median income annually for at least 250 years. The AMI in San Francisco is $97,000

"Racial disparities across all metrics have led to a significant racial wealth gap in the City of San Francisco. By elevating income to match AMI, Black people can better afford housing and achieve a better quality of life," the draft reads.

It also calls for access to a "spectrum of financial education, from beginning to advanced."



"While traditional financial education emphasizes basic financial literacy, there is a need to provide a ‘ladder’ of financial education that encompasses all levels of financial knowledge," they write, "that resources match the broad spectrum of financial levels that exist throughout the community."

To be eligible, one would have to be identified as Black/African American on public documents for at least 10 years, be 18 years or older, and meet a variety of criteria that proves you have lived in San Francisco.