Every eligible Black adult will receive payments of $5 million, personal debt and tax burdens will be eliminated, a guaranteed annual income of at least $97,000 will be provided for 250 years, and families will be able to purchase homes in San Francisco for just $1, the Associated Press reported.

A committee appointed by the city has made several recommendations to address the difficult question of how to make amends for centuries of slavery in the United States and generations of systemic racism that have resulted in Black Americans facing health, education, and economic disadvantages, as well as being overrepresented in prisons and among the homeless population.

On Tuesday, the city’s Board of Supervisors held a preliminary hearing that may reveal their willingness to push forward with an unprecedented reparations plan in terms of its scope and level of detail.

However, there have been criticisms of the plan, with some labeling it as financially and politically unfeasible. One conservative analyst estimated that every non-Black family in the city would need to pay a minimum of $600,000.

Despite the fact that the tech industry downturn has left the city in a significant deficit, some supervisors have argued that San Francisco cannot currently afford to make substantial reparations payments, as reported by the AP.

However, they have expressed a desire to discuss the proposals and explore potential solutions in the future. Ultimately, the Board of Supervisors has the power to vote on whether to accept, reject, or modify any or all of the recommendations.

Written by staff