Cornel West hammers black politicians on 'Democratic Party plantation' after GOP calls bluff on California reparations bill



Public intellectual Cornel West lambasted the Democratic Party after party members were forced to table a bill on reparations in California.

State Democrats have commissioned a panel to investigate the possibility of reparations for black residents for systemic racism in the past, but when Republicans forced them to actually pass a bill, they balked and tabled the motion.

'The politicians are too pre-occupied with finding some position or status on the Democratic party plantation!'

West, who is running for president, torched the black caucus in California and demanded political courage to pass the controversial measures.

"What we are witnessing in the state of California is the very essence of political cowardliness," said Cornel West on social media, "in regard to the reparations bill which should have been signed by the governor, and that now is not just being delayed, primarily by the black caucus, but put off, postponed, with another commission, another investigation. That's the last thing we need. We need action!"

West also referred to claims that the black caucus tabled the bill because it was afraid Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom would veto the measure.

"The governor is too obsessed with his presidential ambitions, and the politicians are too pre-occupied with finding some position or status on the Democratic Party plantation!" he continued.

"Please! We had enough of this! Where is your moral consistency? Where is your political courage? That's what we're looking for!" he added.

The fight over the reparations bill devolved into a shouting match after protesters assembled at the legislature to demand that Democrats press forward on reparations. Some said that they would withhold support for presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who is from California, over the decision.

“The governor needs to understand the world is watching California and this is gonna have a direct impact on your friend Kamala Harris who is running for president," said a black protester at the California capital.

In 2022, the reparations task force said that black descendants of slaves were owed $569 billion in housing reparations.

West has claimed to be philosophically a Marxist and a Christian.

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Reparations: California activists demand MILLIONS



If you happen to be black and looking for a little extra cash, California might just be the state for you as the California Reparations Task Force, founded by Gavin Newsom, has formally recommended that the state should pay up to $1.2 million to every qualifying black resident.

While California was never a slave state, the task force called on the state to give black residents a formal apology in addition to the payments.

“Now, I want to be clear,” Lauren Chen comments, “this reparations task force, their recommendation isn’t technically binding on anything, but considering it’s California I’d say there’s actually a scarily good chance that the legislature — once they receive this recommendation — might actually do something with this.”

Chen points out that though California wasn’t a slave state, the Reparations Task Force is operating under the belief that there were many other injustices historically committed against black people.

The payments received by black residents would be broken down into different types of historical discrimination like bank redlining or policing and mass incarceration.

Chen comments that this is “a perfect display of progressive logic, or rather, lack thereof.”

“So, essentially in the progressive mind, okay, if a bunch of criminals commit crimes and therefore have to go to prison and be monitored by the police, it’s ... the state’s fault. They should be rewarded for that through reparations. Talk about incentivizing bad behavior,” she says.

The cost of reparations for the state of California, if they choose to enact this plan, could be in excess of $800 billion.

“These are leftists; these are socialists,” Chen says.

“They don’t care where the money comes from. The only thing they’re concerned about is that they get their gifts.”


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Gavin Newsom fumbles response to billions in reparations recommended by panel he implemented



Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom offered contradictory statements on a recommendation by a task force to implement billions in reparations for black residents of the state.

Newsom created the California's Reparations Task Force in 2020, but when they came up with a reparations plan that would cost billions, he responded with a statement that fell short of endorsing the suggestion.

The board calculated that the reparations could include cash payments of as much as $360k to each eligible person. Economists on the board estimated that the cash payments could amount to more than $800 billion, while critics noted that this figure far exceeds the total annual budget of the state, which is about $300 billion.

“Many of the recommendations put forward by the Task Force are critical action items we’ve already been hard at work addressing," said a spokesperson for Newsom in their first statement.

The first statement from Newsom's office also said that reparations would need to be "about much more than cash payments."

When it was reported that the Democrat had refused to endorse cash payments, Newsom's office claimed that the report was inaccurate and offered a second statement.

His spokesperson said that Newsom “is not backing away from cash payments, but wants to wait for the report in its entirety to arrive on his desk before he makes any decision,” in the second statement.

State Senator Steven Bradford, a member of the reparations panel, said that Newsom was setting expectations lower for the final form that the reparations program could take.

"I think he’s setting a realistic expectation there probably won’t be check payments in the amount we’ve bannered around," said Bradford.

"I’ve tried to temper people’s expectations that it might not be a check," he added. "There's a lot of stuff we can do, and I just want people to be open and accepting to the fact that reparations could take many forms."

KCRA-TV also reported that years of budgetary hurdles will hinder any progress towards large-scale reparations plans.

Here's a local news report about the incident:

'Much more than cash': Newsom responds to recommendations from California reparations task force www.youtube.com

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California — a state that never practiced slavery — moves forward with slavery reparations plan



California — which entered the union as a free state in 1850 — is moving forward with plans to implement slavery reparations for black Americans.

On Tuesday, a first-of-its-kind task force charged with studying the issue and developing proposals for redress convened for its inaugural meeting, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The task force is the result of a bill signed last year by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom that required members to draft a formal apology to black Americans and come up with various financial remedies for the lingering effects of discriminatory practices in the country.

"As our country reckons with our painful legacy of racial injustice, California again is poised to lead the way towards a more equitable and inclusive future for all," Newsom said at the meeting.

California Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta added, "Although the horrors of slavery may have begun in the past, its harms are felt every single day by Black Americans in the present."

"Yes, there has been progress in this country, but it has been all too uneven, and it has not moved fast enough," he said. "We must move quickly. How much longer can we wait for justice? How much longer until we are able to truly fulfill the promise of the American dream that all are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights?"

"We have lost more than we have ever taken from this country," task force member and state Sen. Steven Bradford said. "We have given more than has ever been given to us."

The task force consists of nine members — five appointed by Newsom, two appointed by the state Senate, and two by the Assembly — and plans to meet at least 10 times before findings are due in July 2023.

The commission has drawn intense scrutiny from critics who question why Californians, who never held slaves, should have to pay for reparations in state where slavery was never officially practiced.

Republican state Rep. Tom McClintock perhaps said it best in a tweet posted following the passage of the bill last fall.

"Gavin Newsom has signed a bill to study taking the earnings of people who never owned slaves to pay people who never were slaves in a state that never practiced slavery in the first place. California and its governor are now officially [bats**t] crazy," the representative wrote.

Gavin Newsom has signed a bill to study taking the earnings of people who never owned slaves to pay people who neve… https://t.co/yz3pxpvAH7

— Tom McClintock (@tommcclintock) 1601577265.0

Calif. may return beachfront land taken from black family in eminent domain seizure 100 years ago



Los Angeles County is considering whether to compensate a black family who had beachfront property seized by the local government nearly a century ago.

What are the details?

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said she is weighing options to compensate the family of Willa and Charles Bruce, who were among the city's first black landowners, the Hill reported.

In 1924, the city of Manhattan Beach forced the Bruce family from its beachfront land through eminent domain under the pretense of creating a city park.

The Bruces and their family lived at the Manhattan Beach location and operated a resort for black Americans during a time when beaches were segregated by race. At the time, the family purchased the land for less than $2,000 — land that could now be worth up to $75 million.

KABC-TV reported that the county is now looking at options to compensate the Bruce family's descendants.

Los Angeles County owns the the property, where its lifeguard headquarters and training center is currently located.

Hahn told the station, "I'm considering, first of all, giving the property back to the Bruce family. I think that would be the one act that would really be justice for that family. I wanted the County of Los Angeles to be a part of righting this terrible wrong."

She added, "We are now in this country finally meeting this moment. And there are a lot of talks about reparations, financial restitutions being made to African Americans in this country."

What else?

Anthony Bruce, one of the family's last living descendants, added, "It was a wrong against the Bruce family. I think we would be wealthy Americans still living there in California. ... Manhattan Beach, probably."

The Hill reported, "Hahn says the county is also considering paying reparations or leasing the property from the family so the lifeguard center can stay at the location."

"The Manhattan Beach city task force is also recommending the city council issue a formal apology and create a commemorative plaque to acknowledge the Bruce family," the report adds.

Kavon Ward, a local Manhattan Beach resident, has been active in trying to raise awareness of the Bruce family's issue.

"They need to pay for the stripping of generational wealth," Ward said. "This family could have been wealthy, they could have passed on wealth to other family members. Manhattan Beach could have been more culturally diverse. ... There would have been more black people here."

Ward added, "This task force and members of Manhattan Beach are living in this sort of bubble of white supremacy and white fragility and I feel like it's time to penetrate that bubble. It's time for this bubble to be popped."

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