'Not enough': California activist rejects proposed reparations payment of $223,000, wants even more

For some in California, a reparations payment of nearly one-quarter million dollars is not enough.

What is the background?

The State of California Reparations Task Force has estimated that qualified black residents could be eligible for a payment of $223,200 per person to redress housing discrimination.

The committee estimates that black California residents were disproportionately impacted by discriminatory housing policies between 1933 and 1977, costing them an estimated $5,074 per year. The total cost of the plan is more than $500 billion.

Discriminatory housing is just one of five potential compensation areas. The other four include: mass incarceration, unjust property seizures, devaluation of black businesses, and health care.

What happened last week?

The Reparations Task Force held a meeting in San Diego last week seeking public comments about a plan to redress systemic discrimination. At one point, one speaker said the estimated payment is not enough.

The activist, who identified himself as Reverend Tony Pierce, said there should not be any residency requirements for eligible reparation payment recipients.

"Damages certainly have to go back to slavery. We're talking compensation that goes back to slavery," he said. "There should be no residency requirements for California. We have to encourage our people to come back to California. What better way to encourage our people to come back to California if we have no requirements?"

At the end of his speaking time, Pierce walked away screaming that the proposed amount of reparations is not enough.

"And $200,000 is not enough! $223,000 is not enough!" he declared.

The task force is charged with "studying the institution of slavery and its lingering negative effects on living African Americans, including descendants of persons enslaved in the United States and on society." Therefore, the commission is not developing legislation but only making recommendations for future legislation.

The task force has until July 1 to formalize its recommendations.

The incident came after a reparations panel in San Francisco recommended earlier this month that each of the city's black residents receive a one-time, lump sum payment of $5 million and total debt forgiveness.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!