California lawmakers target historical harm to Black residents in latest bill push

A group of Black lawmakers in the state Legislature is pushing ahead with proposals to prioritize the descendants of enslaved people for college admissions and homebuyer assistance, despite attacks from the Trump administration on equity programs and tepid support for reparations legislation at the state Capitol.

A suite of proposals unveiled Thursday stems from a 2022 report detailing harms inflicted on Black Californians by the state government dating to the 19th century, including laws passed by the state Legislature to aid enslavers. The Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom approved an official apology for the state’s role in advancing enslavement last year, but other reparations bills were rejected by the governor and voters.

“Even outside of the current [Trump] administration, these things are always a challenging conversation, especially with the fact that many people say, ‘Well there was no slavery in California. I didn’t participate, I didn’t own slaves,’” said Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson (D-San Diego), the chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus.

“I think having this current administration makes it a little bit more challenging, but this bill package and the entire conversation about repairing harm is not about assigning anyone personal blame for the past,” Weber added. “It’s about righting the wrongs that still hinder the Black community today.”

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The CLBC bill package includes Assembly Bill 62, a proposal to help victims of racially motivated eminent domain receive compensation, and Senate Bill 437, legislation tasking the California State University system with developing a methodology to verify descendants of enslaved people.

Another bill, Assembly Constitutional Amendment 6, would place a question on the 2026 ballot asking voters to remove language from the state constitution allowing involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime, an idea voters rejected in November.

The lawmakers did not include proposals for direct monetary reparations in their bill package. The idea of cash payments for Black Californians or descendants of the enslaved would be controversial, but even more modest reparations proposals failed to gain traction last year. Proposals to create a reparations-focused state agency and prioritize African Americans for occupational licenses failed to clear the Legislature.

The new round of reparations-related bills will be considered as the Trump administration aims to crack down on public programs that promote racial preferences. A memo issued last week by the federal Department of Education gives schools across the country two weeks to end any practice that advantages students because of their race before they risk losing federal funding.

California law currently bars the consideration of race, sex or ethnicity in public education, contracting and employment.

“The attacks coming from the federal government are not new for Black folks,” said Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), the CLBC’s vice chair. “We have lived through enslavement, emancipation, the Black Codes, Jim Crow, Civil Rights and the rolling back of civil rights — this has been our struggle in this country.

“What the current administration is doing, though, is making that struggle very clear for other folks who thought we had passed those days.”

GO DEEPER: Reparations study seeks remedies for harm done to LA's Black communities