California lawmaker unveils 'Genealogy Office' to decide who's REALLY descended ... trends now
A California lawmaker has unveiled plans for a 'Genealogy Office' to decide which residents are genuine descendants of slaves and could get life-changing benefits payouts.
Steven Bradford, a Democratic state Senator for LA County, proposed bill SB 1403 to create a controversial genealogy unit to 'confirm reparations eligibility' of applicants.
The state's first-in-the-nation reparations task force last year decided that some residents should win $1.2 million payouts as compensation for injustices from the slavery era onwards.
But lawmakers have struggled to turn those plans into reality, and have advanced several bills to devise a working reparations scheme amid fears of spiralling costs in a cash-strapped state.
Steven Bradford, a Democratic state Senator for LA County, has proposed a genealogy office to decide who gets reparations payouts
Bradford's bill, which was amended this month, aims to solve the problem of working out who is in line for a payout.
Its planned genealogy team would 'support potential reparations claimants by providing access to expert genealogical research to confirm reparations eligibility,' says the bill.
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It would also offer 'expedited assistance with the reparations claims process.'
Bradford's office sent DailyMail.com a factsheet with further details of who would be eligible for payouts.
It refers to 'restitution specifically to the descendants of chattel enslaved persons and free black persons living in the US prior to the end of the 19th century.'
The bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month.
The planned genealogy bureau would be part of a California American Freedman Affairs Agency.
Genealogy is the study of 'family trees' and the lineage of families.
