It's Wednesday. California's first-in-the-nation reparations task force is tackling big questions. Plus, redistricting in California is scrambling the political fortunes of both parties. |
 | | A protest to demand reparations at Tulsa City Hall in Oklahoma in May.Cheriss May for The New York Times |
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After the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, as the nation grappled with how to right a long history of wrongs, California took a momentous step in the name of racial equity. |
In September 2020, the state created a task force to study and recommend reparations for Black Californians, particularly those descended from slaves. The effort is the only one in the nation of this scale. |
If you're wondering, yes, California joined the union as a free state and never officially sanctioned slavery. But voters here supported pro-slavery politics for decades and, through a variety of discriminatory housing, voting and criminal justice policies, hampered the ability of Black Americans to accumulate wealth and get ahead, experts say. |
 | | The bill that created California's reparations task force was written by Shirley Weber, now the secretary of state.Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press |
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"It is clearly a continuing struggle in California, I think, to live up to what it perceives itself to be: as this wonderful dream that has equal opportunity and access for all," Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who wrote the reparations legislation, said during a meeting this year. |
For the past several months, the group has been gathering evidence and weighing proposals before it is expected to submit its recommendations to the Legislature next summer. On Tuesday, the panel commenced its latest two-day meeting, diving into the world of housing, gentrification and infrastructure in California. |
Experts testified about California's history of redlining, building freeways through Black neighborhoods and unfairly seizing Black properties through eminent domain. |
(Other meeting agendas tackle school segregation, environmental justice, the Great Migration, the history of slavery and more. You can watch a livestream of today's meeting, which will focus on entertainment and sports, here.) |
Bruce Appleyard, associate professor of city and regional planning at San Diego State University, told the panel on Tuesday that an array of discriminatory housing policies cut off African Americans from a major source of wealth for middle-class families: equity from housing. |
Although African American incomes on average are about 60 percent of white incomes, Appleyard said, "African American wealth is only about 5 to 9 percent of white wealth." |
That carries significant consequences. People who identify as Black or African American make up 6.5 percent of California's total population but about 40 percent of our homeless population, according to some estimates. |
"The Black people overrepresented in the unhoused population is neither incidental or accidental," Brandon Greene, director of the racial and economic justice program at the A.C.L.U. of Northern California, told the panel. |
Reparations for slavery in the United States have been debated for decades, but little progress has been made until recently. |
At the first meeting of California's new task force in June, the panel reviewed examples of other reparations programs: Germany paid billions to Holocaust victims, and the United States provided restitution to Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. |
A. Kirsten Mullen, co-author of "From Here to Equality," explained to the task force: "At the same rate, compensation for a Black American during a single decade of Jim Crow would be $36.5 million." |
If you read one story, make it this |
 | | Travelers arrived at Los Angeles International Airport last week.Frederic J. Brown/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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- Vaccination mandate: More than 100 Los Angeles firefighters have been placed on unpaid leave for failing to get vaccinated against Covid-19, KTLA5 reports.
- George Gascón: A review of millions of criminal cases found a sharp decline in the rate at which the new Los Angeles district attorney is charging misdemeanors. LAist has the story.
- Kobe Bryant crash: New filings suggest that photos from last year's crash spread widely among emergency workers.
- San Diego redistricting: Because of a declining Latino population in District 9, voters may lose their voice in a district that was created to empower them, Voice of San Diego reports.
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- Modesto election changes: The Modesto City Council wants to shift the dates for when the city's voters pick a mayor to ensure higher turnout, The Modesto Bee reports.
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- Weather warning: Snow and rainstorms are coming to large swaths of Northern California this week.
- San Francisco parklets: New guidelines mean that as many as 90 percent of parklets in the city will need to be removed or significantly changed, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.
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 | | Julia Gartland for The New York Times |
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 | | Horst Mahr/Getty Images |
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"It's where the San Andreas fault line resides. The water comes up from the deep out of the fault line. Palm trees sprouted from the water, smack in the middle of the desert. It's quite a sight. And there are lots of hiking trails around the area." |
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We'll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter. |
 | | NASS |
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And before you go, some good news |
An unearthed video offers a mesmerizing view of 1960s San Francisco. |
The footage, which was recently retouched, comes from a camera strapped to a cable car as it roams the city's streets. Take a look. |
Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow. — Soumya |
Steven Moity and Mariel Wamsley contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com. |
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