The Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth (ARRT), a collaboration of California’s leading Black power-building and justice groups, issued the following statement on Proposition 6 and Proposition 36:
ARRT supported the anti-slavery Proposition 6, which would abolish involuntary servitude and forced labor in California. Voters rejected Prop. 6, a ballot measure designed to end systemic injustices, uphold human rights, reduce recidivism, improve public safety, save costs, and promote rehabilitation.
Prop. 6 was aligned with the California Reparations Task Force report recommendations following one of the United Nations principles of reparations: cessation of harm and a guarantee of non-repetition. As the Task Force report details, California has a long history of propping up and protecting enslavement and its vestiges and this outcome demonstrates that the State still needs to reckon with its past and undo the present harms it continues to inflict on Black Californians.
ARRT also opposed Proposition 36, which threatened to reverse critical progress in criminal justice reform and disproportionately impact Black communities in California. Regretfully, voters approved Prop. 36, a ballot measure that will reinstate harmful “War on Drugs” policies, and impose tough-on-crime measures like mandatory minimum sentences, which have been proven ineffective.
Prop. 36 contradicts the California Reparations Task Force report recommendations that advocate for justice and rehabilitation rather than mass incarceration. Prop. 36 will also cut $100 million each year from programs and services that have been proven to reduce crime and improve the health and safety of our communities. ARRT is disappointed in the passage of Prop. 36 and fears that its investment in incarceration and law enforcement will continue to have disproportionate impacts on Black Californians.
The electorate’s response to both Prop. 6 and Prop. 36 points to the pressing need to educate the public about harms past and present and the role reparations can and must play to bring us closer to a more just, inclusive, and perfect union starting in the state of California.
Despite the outcomes of Prop. 6 and Prop. 36, 2024 was a year that nonetheless saw the enactment of numerous reparations bills, marking a historic moment for California and significant steps toward the realization of comprehensive reparations.
We look forward to the upcoming 2024-25 legislative session and partnering with Black Californians and our allies to build on this groundbreaking legislative effort toward complete reparative justice for Black Californians.
ARRT, the Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth (https://alliancefor.org), is led by the Black Equity Collective, the California Black Power Network, Catalyst California, Equal Justice Society, Live Free USA, Live Free California, and former members of the California Reparations Task Force, Dr. Cheryl Grills, Lisa Holder, Dr. Jovan Scott Lewis, and Donald Tamaki, together with several dozen other organizations on the alliance’s steering committee and advisory council.
