A task force responsible for developing recommendations for reparations to Black residents in California estimate the cost to the state could be $800 billion or more. The figure was calculated by a consulting team of five economists and policy experts.

The state reparations task force will discuss the numbers on Wednesday, March 29, and may either vote to adopt the economists’ proposals or come up with its own figures.

The reparations task force must determine a cash amount, as it approaches a July 1 deadline to suggest how California can atone for its role in perpetuating racist systems that continue to undermine Black people.

The $800 billion estimate includes $246 billion to compensate eligible Black Californians whose neighborhoods were subjected to aggressive policing and prosecution of Black people in the “war on drugs” from 1970 to 2020 and $569 billion to make up for the discriminatory practice of redlining in housing loans.

Other recommendations being considered by the task force include paying incarcerated inmates market value for their labor, establishing free wellness centers and planting more trees in Black communities, banning cash bail, and adopting a K-12 Black studies curriculum.

Critics say that California was never a slave state and that current taxpayers should not be responsible for damage linked to events that occurred hundreds of years ago.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation in 2020 to create the task force, its recommendations are not binding, and final approval rests with the state Assembly, Senate, and governor.

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