Dream of reparations hits political reality in California

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California Democrats three years ago set out to confront more than a century of discrimination toward Black residents with a push for reparations. Now, those ambitions have faded, and frustration is mounting in their own ranks.

Despite its reputation as a liberal bastion, the Democratic supermajority that controls California’s legislature has recently quashed the kinds of criminal justice reform proposals that are central to the reparations movement, including bills that would have required police officers to obtain a warrant before searching a vehicle and banned police canines from biting suspects.

And even before a closely watched task force could issue its final recommendations aimed at unwinding a legacy of racism, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and others poured cold water on their biggest-ticket item, cash payments for descendants of slaves.

“California is not as liberal as people want us to believe,” state Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), vice chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, told POLITICO. He said while the state has pushed the boundaries on environmental issues, “when it comes to the real issue that impacts us the most, race, we’re hesitant to really buck the curve.”

A new poll out this week found that just 39 percent of California’s likely voters support the idea of a reparations task force, a political reality that Bradford — who sits on the panel — and his allies in the Legislature must overcome. In an interview this week, the state senator said he didn’t expect bills explicitly tied to the group’s recommendations to advance until next year, though there are three months left in the legislative session.

“Things get done in a time of crisis, and that was a time of crisis for a lot of people that crystallized what’s been going on in America in a very visual way,” said Steve Maviglio, a Democratic strategist whose long list of clients includes the incoming speaker of the Assembly. “Sad to say, it’s recent memory, it’s not on everybody’s front burner. What is is crime and punishment again, and that is winning the day.”

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