San Francisco’s Reparations Committee Really Is Just Making It Up As It Goes Along

The question is usually asked “Did you pull that number out of thin air?” It is merely rhetorical and does not warrant a serious answer. The case of the San Francisco A panel was asked to create a dollar amount for possible reparations to be made to the city’s poor citizens. The result is actually “Yes, we did.”

The 15-member panel — which was put together in 2021 — really did pull the $5 million-apiece recommendation for reparations out of thin air without doing any sort of mathematical equation, according to a new report.

The Daily Wire, January reported San Francisco’s African American Reparations Advisory Committee ruled in favor of redistribution of millions to remedy systemic racism. Eric McDonnell, chair of the committee revealed how the group reached that conclusion.

“There wasn’t a math formula,” McDonnell spoke to The Washington Post. “It was a journey for the committee towards what could represent a significant enough investment in families to put them on this path to economic well-being, growth and vitality that chattel slavery and all the policies that flowed from it destroyed.”

As pointed out by the paper, the reparations aren’t intended to act as compensation for the blight of slavery — rather the money would make up for “the public policies explicitly created to subjugate Black people in San Francisco by upholding and expanding the intent and legacy of chattel slavery.”

Critics and supporters are both puzzled by the suggested figure.

“This is just a bunch of like-minded people who got in the room and came up with a number,” John Dennis, chairman, San Francisco Republican Party stated. “You’ll notice in that report, there was no justification for the number, no analysis provided. This was an opportunity to do some serious work and they blew it.”

William A. Darity Jr., Duke University’s economist who supports reparations, spoke to the Post. “Calling for $5 million payout by a local government undercuts the credibility of the reparations effort.”

The city will require applicants to be at least 18 years of age at the time they propose the legislation.

These residents must also be able to prove that they lived in the city for at least 13 years or had personally been incarcerated — or the direct descendant of someone imprisoned — during the War on Drugs since 1971.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will vote later this year to approve the economic plan after the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee has released its final report in June.

Conservatives often wonder if the Left is just playing it safe. This is exactly what is happening with San Franciso’s possible reparations program.

The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of The Daily Wire.

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