The Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth (ARRT) announced that nearly 4,000 letters have been delivered to the Governor urging him to sign into law a historic package of reparations bills recently passed by the state legislature, championed by the California Legislative Black Caucus.
A significant number of letters were from White (28.7%), Black (17.6% — including those who identified as Black plus another race), and Asian (16.7% — including those who identified as Asian plus another race) Californians. Additional submissions came from Hispanic/Latino (2.5% — including Hispanic plus another race), Multiracial (2.9%), Native American (0.8%), Middle Eastern (0.7%), and Pacific Islander (0.6%) communities. Nearly one-third of participants did not self-report race.
The bills awaiting the governor’s signature are based on the recommendations of the state’s Reparations Task Force and seek to address the enduring economic, educational, and systemic harms faced by Descendants of American Slavery. The four bills are:
- AB 57 (McKinnor) – Expands the California Dream for All Program to reserve funds for certified descendants of formerly enslaved people.
- AB 62 (McKinnor) – Establishes a process for restitution to individuals whose property was taken through racially motivated eminent domain.
- SB 437 (Weber-Pierson) – Funds the California State University system to develop scalable methods for verifying descendant status.
- SB 518 (Weber-Pierson) – Creates the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery within the Civil Rights Department, with divisions for genealogy, education, outreach, and legal affairs.
People who want to take action and urge Governor Gavin Newsom to sign the reparations bills into law can send their letters here.
ARRT is led by California Black Power Network, Catalyst California, Equal Justice Society, Black Equity Collective, Live Free USA, Live Free California, and former reparations task force members Dr. Cheryl Grills, Lisa Holder, and Donald K. Tamaki. For more information, visit https://alliancefor.org.
