Berkeley City Council passes the first phase of Reparations!
For too long, Berkeley has rested on its laurels, thinking that the historic vote to fully integrate schools in 1968 was enough. Next: San Francisco! The post Berkeley City Council passes the first phase of Reparations! appeared first on San Francisco Bay View.
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by Ben Bartlett, Councilmember, Berkeley City Council, District 3, and James Chang, Chief of Staff
Berkeley, Calif. – On the evening of March 22, 2022, the City of Berkeley passed the first phase of Berkeley Reparations. The Berkeley Reparations item is the first step addressing the economic injury experienced by Berkeley’s descendants of slavery and the ongoing harm caused to all African Americans by systems that uphold the legacy of segregation.
Berkeley Reparations Author Councilmember Ben Bartlett shared: “The Law of Compensation is a universal law – people get paid for their work. Yet government and private industry have denied compensation to millions of American families whose forced labor enriched this country.
“In every field, from housing to healthcare, public safety, transportation and business, we are confronted by the American caste system. A caste system we did not create, but we have inherited. Our children demand change. This legislation presents a framework to take us beyond reaction and into true repair – of the person, the community and the nation.”
Co-sponsored by Mayor Arreguin, Councilmember Sophie Hahn and Councilmember Terry Taplin, the Berkeley Reparations item is a budget item that will fund a consultant to design a process in developing recommendations for reparation policies in Berkeley designed to promote the creation of generational wealth and boost economic mobility, and opportunity in Berkeley’s African American community. Through the process, the consultant will:
- Inform: Hold a series of educational events and truth-telling symposiums on Berkeley History with residents, economists and historians. Subject matter experts will employ financial and historical data to illuminate the generational wealth gap and describe barriers to economic mobility faced by Berkeley’s African American community.
- Interact: Host an interactive dialogue among community members from different perspectives, centered on the community’s historical experiences and current conditions.
- Recommend: Deliver policy recommendations to achieve economic reparations for Berkeley’s Descendants of Slavery.
Mayor Jesse Arreguin shared: “The time for reparations is long overdue. By beginning this process, Berkeley can become a leader in righting the wrongs of our history – from slavery to more modern forms of institutional racism, like exclusionary zoning and redlining. This action will help foster dialogue on a state and even national level on a topic we can no longer ignore.”
During the council meeting, many community members and leaders called in to support the item. From Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) Oakland Berkeley Chapter and BWOPA’s Reparations Task Force Lead Rita Forte, stated: “Solving problems in the African American community is part of the main mission of BWOPA. We recognize that the root of many problems within our community started as a result of the enslavement of Africans brought to the U.S. through the transatlantic slave trade over 400 years ago.
“Time is past due for the U.S. to give national acknowledgment, accountability and redress for American descendants of slavery – BWOPA is pleased to see Councilman Bartlett and the City of Berkeley attempting to tackle this locally, to see what can be done here towards this goal.”
Councilmember Terry Taplin expressed that he is “honored to support Councilmember Bartlett’s courageous work to study reparations for the Black community in Berkeley. The United States has never fully reckoned with its history of anti-Black racism, exploitation and segregation through a truth and reconciliation process, so I look forward to seeing Berkeley be a national leader in community-driven reparative justice.”
Councilmember Sophie Hahn shares: “I was brought up on the hopes and promises of the Civil Rights era, but for too long, Berkeley has rested on its laurels, thinking that our historic vote to fully integrate schools in 1968 was enough.
“I’m excited about the prospect of a compassionate, participatory process to learn our history, hear stories from those who live it, celebrate what we did achieve, acknowledge what we did not and consider how we can repair harm to African Americans.
“The city council regularly hears reports that document negative impacts to African Americans – relating to health, homelessness, police interactions, school achievement and almost every other metric our City measures. We are overdue to confront the many ways our City has been active and complicit in discrimination against African Americans and launch a new path forward for the equitable future we all yearn for.”
“Berkeley is just a small city. While we may not have the federal government’s resources to pay people what they are truly owed, I do believe we have the thought-power and moral conviction to inspire the community and impact the nation,” said Councilmember Ben Bartlett.
Councilmember Ben Bartlett, Berkeley City Council, District 3, can be reached by email at bbartlett@cityofberkeley.info and by phone 510-981-7130.
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