Black residents in San Francisco could receive a life-changing amount of money in the form of reparations if a plan backed by the city's Board of Supervisors gets enacted.

The board voiced support for the city's reparations committee's recommendation to pay eligible Black adult residents $5 million and also recommended eliminating personal debt, tax bills, and instituting guaranteed yearly incomes starting at $97,000 for the next 250 years, according to the Associated Press.

There are estimated less than 50,000 Black residents living in San Francisco, only 6 percent of the current population.

Like other such plans explored around the country to improve Black generational wealth, it received some pushback from the local community. 

"Those of my constituents who lost their minds about this proposal, it's not something we're doing or we would do for other people. It's something we would do for our future, for everybody's collective future," said Rafael Mandelman, San Francisco supervisor.

While the board said it was open to the reparations proposal in an effort to atone for slavery and institutionalized racism, some supervisors have said the city cannot afford major reparations payments. Lee E. Ohanian, a professor with Stanford University's Hoover Institution, estimated that the plan could cost non-Black families at least $600,000 per household.

"This conversation we're having in San Francisco is completely unserious. They just threw a number up, there's no analysis," said John Dennis, chair of the San Francisco Republican Party.

Share:
More In Politics
NC Lawmakers Pass 12-week Abortion Ban; Governor Vows Veto
North Carolina lawmakers on Thursday approved and sent to the governor a ban on nearly all abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, down from the current 20 weeks, in response to last year’s overturning of Roe v. Wade at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Justice Clarence Thomas Let GOP Donor Pay Child's Tuition
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas joins other members of the Supreme Court as they pose for a new group portrait, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022. A Republican megadonor paid two years of private school tuition for a child raised by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who did not disclose the payments, a lawyer who has represented Thomas and his wife acknowledged Thursday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Florida Republicans Pass School Bills on Pronouns, Diversity
Florida Republicans on Wednesday approved bills to ban diversity programs in colleges and prevent students and teachers from being required to use pronouns that don't correspond to someone's sex, building on top priorities of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
300 Arrested in Global Crackdown on Dark Web Drug Market
Authorities in the U.S. and Europe arrested nearly 300 people, confiscated over $53 million, and seized a dark web marketplace as part of an international crackdown on drug trafficking that officials say was the largest operation of its kind.
Load More