Activist at California reparations meeting slams $223K proposed payments as ... trends now

One activist who took issue with the proposed $223,000 payments for black residents shouted out his displeasure during Friday's California's Reparations Task Force meeting. 

The comment came from Reverend Tony Pierce who voiced his dissatisfaction after California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber opened up the floor to the public. 

'And $200,000 is not enough! $223,000 is not enough,' Rev. Pierce shouted out. 

The nine task force members held the meeting in San Diego and welcomed guests for public comments to discuss California AB 3121, the bill signed by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom looking into reparations for black ctiziens. 

The group is 'studying the institution of slavery and its lingering negative effects on living African Americans, including descendants of persons enslaved in the United States and on society.' 

Reverend Pierce was just one of numerous people to speak during the meeting held at San Diego State University on Friday.

Another activist during the meeting called for tax-exempt status, free college education, business and home grants and direct-cash payments for black residents. 

Pierce, in addition to his comments regarding the amount that residents could see, slammed the residency requirement which has been discussed during previous meetings. 

As of the 2022 census, 6.5 percent of California's residents, roughly 2.5 million citizens, identify as black or African-American. 

'There should be no residency requirements for California! We have to encourage our people to come back to California! What better way to encourage our people to come back to California if we have no requirements?' Pierce asked. 

If the $223,000 payment were to be paid out to all 2.5 million black residents, the estimated total financial impact would be around $569 billion. 

'How will reparations be paid?' Pierce asked as Weber told him that his time at the podium was up. 'Immediately!'

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The group will reconvene Saturday at San Diego State University for additional comment and discussion. 

During the hearings, the task force members are assigned with listening to the testimony of witnesses and discussing their comments. 

In December, an attendee at another task force meeting called for $350,000 per person.

Marcus Champion with the Civil Justice Association of California at the time called for the 'direct cash payments, tax-exempt status, free college education, grants for homeownership, business grants, access to low to no business funding and capital.' 

The proposed payments would be sent to black residents in connection to housing discrimination and 'racial terror.' 

Among the questions that are expected to be addressed are when prospective recipients' 'harm' started, and how the 'form of payment' can properly align with the 'estimates of damage.'

The housing discrimination under examination by the nine-member task force would have occurred between 1933 and 1977 in the state. 

The task force is comprised of Chair Kamilah Moore, Vice Chair Dr. Amos C. Brown, San Diego Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe, California State Senator Steven Bradford, Dr. Cheryl Grills, Lisa Holder, Donald K. Tamaki, Jovan Scott Lewis, and Reginald Jones Sawyer.

Moore, who serves as Chair of the panel, has stated she plans to be as 'radical as possible' when it comes to her job. 

Some of the major issues being discussed include the mass incarceration of black residents, unjust property seizures, devaluation of black businesses and health care. 

'We are looking at reparations on a scale that is the largest since Reconstruction,' task force member Jovan Scott Lewis told the New York Times in 2022.  

In 2022, the task force put together a 500-page document outlining why African Americans that are descendants of 19th century slaves were due 'comprehensive reparations.'

At the time, the group said those eligible for the reparations would

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