California reparations panel approves state apology, payments to Black residents: AP

NEW YORK, May 8 (Xinhua) -- California's reparations task force voted Saturday to approve recommendations on how the state may compensate and apologize to Black residents for generations of harm caused by discriminatory policies, reported The Associated Press (AP).

The nine-member committee, which first convened nearly two years ago, gave final approval at a meeting in Oakland to a hefty list of proposals that now go to state lawmakers to consider for reparations legislation, according to the report.

U.S. House Representative Barbara Lee, who is cosponsoring a bill in Congress to study restitution proposals for African Americans, at the meeting called on states and the federal government to pass reparations legislation. "Reparations are not only morally justifiable, but they have the potential to address longstanding racial disparities and inequalities," Lee said.

The panel's first vote approved a detailed account of historical discrimination against Black Californians in areas such as voting, housing, education, disproportionate policing and incarceration and others, noted the report.

Other recommendations on the table ranged from the creation of a new agency to provide services to descendants of enslaved people to calculations on what the state owes them in compensation, it added.