SAN FRANCISCO — Supervisors in San Francisco formally apologized Tuesday to African Americans and their descendants for the city’s role in perpetuating racism and discrimination, with several stating that this was just the start of reparations for Black residents and not the end.
The vote was unanimous with all 11 board members signed on as sponsors of the resolution.
“This historic resolution apologizes on behalf of San Francisco to the African American community and their descendants for decades of systemic and structural discrimination, targeted acts of violence, atrocities,” said Supervisor Shamann Walton, “as well as committing to the rectification and redress of past policies and misdeeds.”
San Francisco joins another major U.S. city, Boston, in issuing an apology. Nine states have formally apologized for slavery, according to the resolution.
“We have much more work to do but this apology most certainly is an important step,” said Walton, the only Black member of the board and chief proponent of the resolution.
It is the first reparations recommendation of more than 100 proposals made by a city committee to win approval. The African American Reparations Advisory Committee also proposed that every eligible Black adult receive a $5 million lump-sum cash payment and a guaranteed income of nearly $100,000 a year to remedy San Francisco’s deep racial wealth gap.
But there has been no action on those and other proposals, and some supervisors Tuesday took a dig at public safety measures on next week’s March 5 city ballot that they say would harm Black residents.
Supervisor Dean Preston represents the historically Black Fillmore neighborhood, which was razed in the last century and resulted in the displacement of residents. He said that some leaders who back the apology still want to build “unaffordable housing for mostly wealthy, white people” on public land.
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