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The mayor of San Francisco signed an ordinance that creates a “Reparations Fund” that could one day grant each of the city’s eligible Black residents up to $5 million in reparations for alleged historic discrimination and displacement.
The ordinance, which was passed by the Board of Supervisors earlier this month, was signed by Democrat Mayor Daniel Lurie two days before Christmas. It establishes the legal framework for the fund but does not allocate funds or guarantee payments. The fund can be financed with private donations, foundations and other non-city sources.
Any taxpayer-funded reparations payouts would require separate legislation, an identified funding source and mayoral approval. Lurie told Fox News Digital that no taxpayer money would be paid into the potential pot, given the city’s $1 billion budget deficit.
“I was elected to drive San Francisco’s recovery, and that’s what I’m focused on every day,” Lurie said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We are not allocating money to this fund — with a historic $1 billion budget deficit, we are going to spend our money on making the city safer and cleaner.”
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Mayor Daniel Lurie speaks on steps of City Hall in San Francisco, California earlier this year. The ordinance was signed by Lurie two days before Christmas without any public announcement from the mayor. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“The Reparations Plan outlines a variety of methods to provide restitution, compensation and rehabilitation to individuals who are Black and/or descendants of a chattel enslaved person and have experienced a proven harm in San Francisco,” the ordinance reads, in part.
The ordinance specifically cites a 2023 policy report and recommendation document produced by the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee (AARAC), a city-appointed advisory committee.
The report, which is nonbinding, studied harms to Black residents and proposed remedies, including a recommendation of a $5 million payment. Around 46,000 Black residents live in San Francisco, according to U.S. Census data.
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San Francisco’s City Hall in California. (iStock)
It argued that Black San Franciscans are victims of decades of city-driven “residential displacement” and “racial discrimination,” particularly during the urban renewal era — the period from the mid-1940s through the 1970s.
“The City and County of San Francisco and its agencies should issue a formal apology for past harms and commit to making substantial ongoing, systemic and programmatic investments in Black communities to address historical harms,” the report states in its executive summary.
It proposed that the city “[p]rovide a one-time, lump sum payment of $5 million to each eligible person.”
Historic Victorian-style homes, some of which were once owned by Black residents, stand in front of the San Francisco skyline, with the City Hall rotunda visible. (PHILIP PACHECO/AFP via Getty Images)
The report also recommended a guaranteed annual income tied to area median income and the creation of new city agencies, including an Office of Reparations, to administer programs. It also called for major housing interventions, such as rental assistance, homeownership support and city-backed funds to purchase property along Black business corridors, as well as multi-million-dollar investments in Black-owned businesses.
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The California Legislature has attempted to pass specific reparations bills but has so far failed to do so. Several proposals stalled or were rejected after the state’s Reparations Task Force, which was set up in 2020 to study and recommend reparations proposals.
