The question of whether American taxpayers should make reparations to the descendants of black slaves has once again been raised, this time with California Democrats leading the charge. On September 30, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 3121, which creates a nine-member task force to determine what the Golden State owes its African-American residents for past wrongs and suggest specific remedies by a year from next June.
The points made by both sides are by now familiar. Those arguing in favor of reparations say black Americans have never been compensated for their ancestors’ forced removal from their homelands and subsequent servitude in the plantation South. Opponents are troubled by any legislation that might benefit those African Americans not descended from slaves while, at the same time, penalizing those whites whose ancestors either came to the United States after the Civil War or fought bravely against the Confederacy.
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