Sacramento, California– SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom presented a mixed bag Monday for supporters of bills aimed at addressing the state’s legacy of racist and discriminatory policies against Black Americans.
He signed a law authorizing $6 million for California State University to study how to confirm an individual’s status as a descendant of an enslaved person.
But he vetoed other bills championed by the California Legislative Black Caucus as tools to atone for the state’s history.
Someone could have authorized public and private colleges to give Preference for acceptance of grandchildren Of enslaved people. Another law would have required the state to investigate claims by families who say the government has unfairly seized their property based on race through eminent domain. One-third was allocating 10% of the money from the first-time home buyer loan program to descendants of slaves.
Democratic Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, who authored the college admissions preferences bill, said Newsom’s veto was “more than disappointing.”
“As the Trump administration threatens our institutions of higher education and attacks the foundations of diversity and inclusion, now is not the time to shirk the fight to protect students who come from a legacy of harm and exclusion,” he said in a statement.
But Newsom called the bill unnecessary, saying colleges already have the authority to make those admissions decisions.
A The first task force in the country Study of reparations for African Americans Report issued in 2023 Recommending how California should provide compensation to descendants of blacks who were in the United States in the nineteenth century. The Black Caucus has introduced a list of bills over the past two years inspired by the report in an attempt to fight decades of discrimination in housing, education, the criminal justice system and other areas. None of the proposals before Newsom’s desk would pay money directly to descendants of slaves.
California joined the Union as a free state in 1850. In practice, it sanctioned slavery and approved policies and practices that prevented blacks from owning homes and starting businesses. Black families were terrorized, their communities were forcefully policed and their neighborhoods were polluted, according to the task force report.
Newsom signed a law last week to create an Office of Descendants of American Slavery to verify the family lineage of Black people in California and determine their eligibility for potential reparations programs. Lawmakers Blocked a similar bill In the Legislative Council last year.
Democratic state Sen. Akeelah Weber Pearson, who chairs the Black Caucus and authored the law, said it would help the state acknowledge its painful past.
“This bill represents hope, responsibility and commitment to righting what has been wrong for too long,” she said.
But some advocates said the bill would delay real reparations, and urged lawmakers to come up with proposals to directly compensate descendants of slaves.
“Let’s be clear — SB 518 is not true reparations, nor is it a step closer to true reparations,” said Chris Lodgson, spokesman for the reparations advocacy group Coalition for a Fair and Equitable California. “Delaying compensation, diverting compensation, and denying compensation.”
Bryan introduced the college admissions bill more than a year after it was passed The United States Supreme Court banned affirmative action In university admission. California also has a state law approved in 1996 that prohibits the state from granting preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, ethnicity, color, or national origin in public employment, education, or contracting.
Newsom said he did not sign the bill aimed at increasing aid for first-time homebuyers for descendants of slaves because creating a “descent-based allocation” would pose legal risks.
Under the eminent domain bill, the state Department of Civil Rights would determine whether a family is entitled to repossess their property or receive compensation by the state or local government. He said Newsom rejected it because the agency lacked the experience to implement it successfully.
he He vetoed a similar bill Last year since it was linked to another proposal blocked by lawmakers that would have created an agency to administer compensation programs.
The governor signed a law last year to He formally apologized Slavery and its residual effects on black Californians.