Gavin Newsom signs bill officially apologizing for California’s role in slavery

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Thursday that issues a formal apology from California for its role in “perpetuating” slavery.

The bill, introduced by Assembly member Reggie Jones-Sawyer of the state’s “reparations task force,” requires the state Capitol to have a plaque signed by officials that apologizes for California’s involvement in slavery. Newsom also signed a formal apology for the state’s role in slavery and its “enduring legacy,” which accompanies the bill.

Newsom created the task force in 2020 to address potential compensation for those who allege to have experienced negative effects of racism.

“The State of California apologizes for perpetuating the harms African Americans faced by having imbued racial prejudice through segregation, public and private discrimination, and unequal disbursal of state and federal funding and declares that such actions shall not be repeated,” the plaque would read.

California’s laws “disproportionately and negatively affect African Americans as a group and perpetuate the lingering material and psychological effects of slavery can be eliminated,” the apology states.

The formal apology “commits to restore and repair affected peoples with actions beyond this apology,” despite the fact that California was a free state in the 1850s.

“As we confront the lasting legacy of slavery, I’m profoundly grateful for the efforts put forward by Chair Wilson and the members of California Legislative Black Caucus,” Newsom said in a press release. “The State of California accepts responsibility for the role we played in promoting, facilitating, and permitting the institution of slavery, as well as its enduring legacy of persistent racial disparities. Building on decades of work, California is now taking another important step forward in recognizing the grave injustices of the past – and making amends for the harms caused.”

The New York City Council passed pieces of legislation earlier this September, greenlighting a similar “reparations task force,” and an entire study on slavery-related reparations in New York City.

Gov. Newsom’s office deferred the Daily Caller News Foundation to a press release on the bill and apology.

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