Samuel Case, FISM News
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San Francisco is considering reparation payments of $5 million to every eligible black adult in the city.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors met Tuesday to discuss reparations. Other proposals include a guaranteed annual income of at least $97,000, total debt forgiveness, exemptions from all tax burdens, and letting black residents buy homes for one dollar, per the Associated Press.
A draft plan, published in December, by the city’s African American Reparations Advisory Committee (AARAC) listed over 100 recommendations.
Eric McDonnell, chair of the AARAC, said during Tuesday’s hearing that the reparations are meant to be a “redress for hostile anti-black policies with ongoing harm” and are “a moral imperative to right historical wrongs.”
McDonnell previously told the Washington Post that the $5 million payment was not calculated based on any criteria.
“There wasn’t a math formula,” he said. “It was a journey for the committee towards what could represent a significant enough investment in families to put them on this path to economic well-being, growth, and vitality that chattel slavery and all the policies that flowed from it destroyed.”
After the over five-hour hearing, the Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution accepting AARAC’s plan. Although it remains unclear which parts of the plan will be approved.
According to the AP, the Board of Supervisors “voiced enthusiastic support” for the plan, “with some saying money should not stop the city from doing the right thing.”
To receive reparations, a person must be at least 18 years old and identified as “Black/African American” on public documents for at least 10 years.
In action, a person must meet two eligibility requirements, such as attending a public school before desegregation, or being the descendant of a slave.
John Dennis, chairman of the San Francisco Republican Party, called the plan “completely unserious,” but said San Francisco is “the one city where it could possibly pass.”
Stanford University’s Hoover Institution estimates the plan would cost each non-black family at least $600,000 if it becomes law.
Meanwhile, per Axios, San Francisco has a projected budget deficit of $728 million from this July of June 2025. Analysts have warned that if San Francisco were to adopt the plan it would bankrupt the city.