Voters in California reject the idea of giving reparations to the descendants of slaves by a wide margin, according to a recent poll. The results may add more pressure on California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who is currently considering advice from a reparations committee he helped create.
According to the poll commissioned by the Los Angeles Times, 59% of Golden State residents are against such a reparations plan, while only 28% support it.
This result included about 40% of the public “strongly opposed” to such a plan.
Furthermore, when asked whether it was fair for “today’s taxpayers to pay for wrongs committed in the past,” 60% agreed. Furthermore, 53% supported the statement, “it’s not fair to single out one group for reparations when other racial and religious groups have been wronged in the past.”
Among the reasons for opposition, only 19% cited the reparations plan’s possible price tag.
Among Democrats, 43% were in favor of reparations, while 41% were against. Independents broke 65% against such a plan, with only 22% supporting it.
Among the groups, Republicans were the most opposed, with 90% against possible reparations, and 5% in favor.
Newsom’s commission recently announced their findings. While the panel did not specify a specific amount to be granted to the state’s Black population, an analysis found that it would likely be hundreds of thousands of dollars per person.
I spoke to @NEWSMAX about the most recent reparations proposal in California.
Reparations is the extraction of money from people who were never slave owners, to be given to people who were never slaves. And one more problem, California was never even a slave state! pic.twitter.com/0DD27eH8S5
— Larry Elder (@larryelder) September 7, 2023
Should a person live in the state until age 71, the possible reparations payment could be $1.2 million.
Overall, if the plan proposed by the commission was put into place, it would cost California about $800 billion. The state’s current budget is about $300 billion per year.
The report was crafted by a number of activists appointed by the state and amounted to about 1,100 pages.
Among the more controversial recommendations made by the group, the panel recommended ending the practice of child support debt.
Despite having overwhelming majorities for the Democratic Party in the state legislature, Newsom has not signaled support for direct cash payments.
