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reparations

Race & Ethnicity

California task force report outlines plans for reparations, bringing the conversation forward again

The task force believes reparations can begin to right the wrongs that "continue to physically and mentally harm African Americans today."

California may soon have a plan to offer reparations to Black Americans.

A California state task force released a new report detailing the harm committed against Black people in American history. The nearly 500-page report gives recommendations for ways to right the wrongdoings that "continue to physically and mentally harm African Americans today." It also includes a detailed history of how the government disadvantaged Black people systemically, starting with slavery and continuing with segregation and other exclusionary acts such as discriminatory housing laws and inequity in the justice system.

"Along with a dereliction of its duty to protect its Black citizens, direct federal, state and local government actions continued to enforce the racist lies created to justify slavery," the report states, according to NPR. "These laws and government supported cultural beliefs have since formed the foundation of innumerable modern laws, policies, and practices across the nation."

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