Newsom launches nation’s first state reparations agency, and California Democrats want more

California is charging ahead in its effort to administer reparations to slave descendants, following Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval of bills to create a new state agency and authorize a study of reparations eligibility.

Newsom signed a bill to establish a Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery, which would include a department to verify slave descendants’ eligibility to receive reparations. Another bill authorizes up to $6 million for the California State University to conduct research “in furtherance of the recommendations” of a separate reparations task force established by the state in 2020. The bill requires the university to study how to confirm an individual’s status as a descendant of a slave.

Reparations, the concept of giving land, money, or other special benefits to people whose ancestors were enslaved in America, is a deeply unpopular concept with the American public at-large. Pew Research polling indicates that 68% of adults oppose the idea, while 30% support it. The views vary widely by race: while 77% of black Americans support reparations, only 18% of white Americans who were polled agreed. 

Newsom vetoed several other reparations-related proposals, stirring pushback from Democratic lawmakers in the state. One of the vetoed bills aimed to allow the University of California and California State University to prioritize slave descendants in its admission process. 

In an explanation of his veto, Newsom said the bill is unnecessary because “institutions already have the authority to determine whether to provide admissions preferences like this one,” and he encouraged universities to consider giving slave descendants priority admission. The bill, if signed, was likely to face lawsuits from critics following the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision banning affirmative action in university admissions.  

“Prioritizing the status of those who self-identify as descendants of U.S. slaves in college admissions is the same as using racial classifications,” president of Students for Fair Admissions Ed Blum told the College Fix. The group was behind the Supreme Court affirmative action case. “Being a descendant of a slave is an exact proxy for being an African American.” 

Yet Democrats are pushing back against Newsom’s veto, calling it “more than disappointing.” 

“While the Trump administration threatens our institutions of higher learning and attacks the foundations of diversity and inclusivity, now is not the time to shy away from the fight to protect students who have descended from legacies of harm and exclusion,” Democratic Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, the bill’s author, said per the Associated Press.  

The state’s legislative Black Caucus shows no signs of slowing down on future reparations measures. The caucus credited Newsom for the reparations bills he did sign, while promising it will “continue to chart pathways to parity for slavery descendants” in the upcoming legislative session.  

The Lion reached out to the White House press office for comment on the reparations efforts and received an automatic reply citing response delays due to “staff shortages resulting from the Democrat Shutdown.”