The effort to provide reparations to Black San Franciscans is another step closer to becoming a reality after the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to establish the Reparations Fund at its Tuesday meeting.
“The passage of this ordinance moves San Francisco from apology to action,” said Supervisor Shamann Walton in a statement.
The resolution simply creates the fund, but no money has been allocated to it.
“Passing the reparations fund will now allow for individuals, foundations, businesses and communities to donate their own resources towards funding recommendations developed by the African American Reparations Advisory Committee here in San Francisco,” Walton said.
Walton led the establishment of the African American Reparations Advisory Committee, or AARAC, in 2020 to develop recommendations for repairing the harm done to the city’s Black residents.
It released a nearly 400-page report in 2023 detailing over 100 recommendations, including providing a one-time, lump sum payment of eligible resident, supplementing income to ensure that qualifying households make the Area Median Income, and setting up a debt forgiveness program.
Who would get the money
According to the ordinance, money set aside for the fund could go “to individuals who are Black and/or descendants of a chattel enslaved person and have experienced a proven harm in San Francisco.”
Any use of funds would have to undergo approval processes and oversight. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission will manage the fund.
In 2024, the city formally apologized to Black residents for decades of racist policies, such as when it displaced nearly 20,000 residents, many of whom were Black, from the city’s Fillmore District in favor of redevelopment.
“I am proud of the work that has been done to get us here, and will continue to fight until we right the wrongs of the past.”
Supervisor Shamann Walton
San Francisco has previously provided reparations, but not for Black residents.
In 1983, it gave reparations to city employees of Japanese ancestry who were sent to internment camps during World War II. They were provided up to $5,000 each, or an amount equal to their salary losses as a result of incarceration, according to the AARAC.
While dozens of localities across the country have begun developing plans for reparations, San Francisco could become the first city in California to spend money toward reparations for Black people, according to Walton.
“For years, Black San Franciscans have been clear that recognition without resources is not enough, Walton said. “I am proud of the work that has been done to get us here, and will continue to fight until we right the wrongs of the past.”