In California – which was never a slave state – major cities are seriously considering paying “reparations” for slavery to Black residents – none of whom ever were enslaved in this country. Some reparations advocates are demanding (this is not a typo) $1 million to $5 million dollars per individual to compensate for the slavery they never suffered.
So how do Californians as a whole feel about this?
From an illuminating article in the Los Angeles Times:
California voters oppose the idea of the state offering cash payments to the descendants of enslaved African Americans by a 2-to-1 margin, according to the results of a new poll that foreshadows the political difficulty ahead next year when state lawmakers begin to consider reparations for slavery.
The UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, co-sponsored by The Times, found that 59% of voters oppose cash payments compared with 28% who support the idea. The lack of support for cash reparations was resounding, with more than 4 in 10 voters “strongly” opposed.
“It has a steep uphill climb, at least from the public’s point of view,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the IGS poll.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers created California’s Reparations Task Force in 2020 with the goal of establishing a path to reparations that could serve as a model for the nation. After two years of deliberations, the task force sent a final report and recommendations this summer to the state Capitol, where Newsom and the Democratic-led Legislature will ultimately decide how the state should atone for slavery.
Interesting.
And when you go straight to the UC Berkeley website and read the complete poll data, you find that:
-While, not surprisingly, almost all Republicans (91%) are against reparations, an overwhelming 63% of all independents are against reparations as well, with 46% of them strongly opposed. Even among Democrats the “approval”, if you can call it that, is 43%, to 42% against.
-When respondents are asked why they oppose reparations, the two most frequently cited reasons are that “It’s unfair to ask today’s taxpayers to pay for wrongs committed in the past (60%) and “It’s not fair to single out one group for reparations when other racial and religious groups have been wronged in the past” (53%).
Assuming the above data are accurate, what do you think will happen if California cities – maybe the overall state itself – starts doling out reparations payouts to Black citizens? Based on the survey you just read results from, how do you suppose that will sit with non-Black Californians?
And before you answer that, although Republicans and Independents are against it at least about half of all Democrats are on board, please remember how pro-“sanctuary city” Democrats have reacted when, instead of all those illegal immigrants being stuffed into Texas and Arizona, some of them were transported to Democrat-controlled cities.
In other words, don’t be so sure that if/when state services are diminished or curtailed because the money is going to people whose only claim to it is skin color, Democrats are going to be even as marginally supportive as they are now.
Bottom line? Reparations is a bad idea. A very bad idea. But, as we have seen in recent years, with “misdemeanor” status for shoplifting up to $950, and the demoralizing/defunding of police in major cities, California has demonstrated a propensity for putting bad ideas into operation.
We’ll see………
