A state that never allowed slavery, wants to make residents who never owned slaves, pay reparations to people who never were slaves.<\/p>\n
San Fran mayor signs bill that could give black residents $5M each \u2014 but admits city is too broke to pay.<\/a><\/p>\n San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie quietly signed a questionable bill to create a reparations fund for black residents \u2014 but acknowledged the city is too broke to pay, sparking a swift backlash from critics who call the plan blatantly illegal.<\/p>\n The bill, which was passed\u00a0unanimously by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors<\/a>\u00a0earlier this month, creates a fund to accept private or public money for a controversial reparations plan that calls for cash payouts of\u00a0$5 million each to eligible black residents<\/a>, debt forgiveness, 250 years of tax abatements, and income subsidies.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not allocating money to this fund \u2014 with a historic $1 billion budget deficit, we are going to spend our money on making the city safer and cleaner,\u201d said Lurie in a statement.<\/p>\n Still, critics have called the reparations plan unlawful \u201cvirtue signaling\u201d even if private dollars are used.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Racial preferences in government programs are banned under the constitution, according to Andrew Quinio, attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ordinance has a very explicit racially discriminatory purpose,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The bill, authored by Supervisor Shamann Walton, states that the fund is intended to \u201cprovide restitution, compensation, and rehabilitation to individuals who are black and\/or descendants of a chattel enslaved person and have experienced a proven harm in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Walton previously called for a $50 million Office of Reparations in 2023, but was rebuffed by then-mayor London Breed.<\/p>\n
Advocates for the program argue that reparations are needed to support black communities who suffered under discriminatory government projects like a decades-long redevelopment of the city\u2019s Fillmore district that razed homes owned by black families.<\/p>\n