Injustices against Black Americans are centuries old, but many Americans are just waking up to the true depth of this oppression. It is shocking and heartbreaking and we can’t change it. We cannot bring back the lives that have been lost or undo the generations of trauma America has inflicted upon its Black citizens, but what we can do is make changes moving forward, make gestures that say, “We are serious about growing together as a community, and part of that growth is taking accountability for our past crimes.”

America’s money was made on the backs of enslaved people. Harper’s Magazine sited a report from 2004 that estimated that total reparations due for American slavery would be $97 trillion, based on 222,505,049 hours of forced labor between 1619 and 1865. According to the 2010 US census there are 42 Million Americans who identify as Black, or part Black. That means every Black American is owed over $2,300,000. Let’s be clear; this isn’t a handout, this isn’t giving people money they “don’t deserve”. This is literally paying back Black Americans for over 200 years of their ancestor’s labor that they never saw a single penny for.

As of 2010 there are a reported 2.3 million Black Americans living in the California who, have not yet received any reparations for the 400 years of crimes committed against them and their ancestors. The $5.3 billion dollars due in reparations to Black Californians is not a large sum of money to be inserted in our state’s budget, especially when you think about how much money is allocated to other programs yearly- for example the police department budget for just the city of oakland is about $320 million for 2020. Reparations is not a new concept in America or other countries. The following article can act as one of many guidelines on issuing reparations. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/06/19/us/reparations-slavery.amp.html

I am a white woman presenting this petition because it is time for us to do our part to heal this country. It is time to face our wrongdoings and take the first steps, as a community, to make it right. Anti-racism work must include, but not be limited to, monetary reparations. This is where we begin to even the playing field. This is where we begin to lift the weight of 400 years of oppression. This is only the beginning, but we cannot begin without the beginning.

Please sign this petition. The time for reparations is now!