Statement: San Francisco Reparations Plan
Press statement by Supervisor Joel Engardio on reparations:
I support finding bold, meaningful, and creative ways to address the injustice of slavery and systemic discrimination suffered by generations of Black Americans. $5 million direct payments are not feasible under current budget constraints. But there are identified actions in the reparations report the city can take that won’t bust the budget. Let’s take a look at what’s feasible and possible to heal historic injustices while building sustained wealth for communities long denied that opportunity.
Statement by Supervisor Joel Engardio
San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting
March 14, 2023
San Francisco Reparations Plan
Every month I do a presentation called SF Politics 101. It explains how local politics work in San Francisco. It also includes a brief history of our city. Unfortunately our history is not all Summer of Love.
There are some terrible and unconscionable things about San Francisco’s past that I have to mention: How we detained Chinese immigrants and even U.S. citizens on Angel Island. How we took away the homes and businesses of Japanese Americans — twice. First when sending them to internment camps during World War II, and then during urban renewal of the 1960s. And how we treated Black residents.
We banned Black residents from buying homes on the westside when they were built in the 1920s to 1950s. Perhaps the most famous example was baseball star Willie Mays, who wasn’t allowed to buy a home on Mount Davidson on the westside.
Generations of Black families were denied the transfer of wealth that white families benefit from as their homes increase in value. Many of the people inheriting a westside home today could not afford to buy it on their own. But they get to stay in San Francisco because their grandparents were allowed to buy property when it was cheap.
This is not the story for Black San Franciscans.
Denied access to the westside, Black families bought property in the Fillmore neighborhood. It became a vibrant jazz hub and was called the “Harlem of the West.” But we bulldozed the Fillmore in the name of “urban renewal” in the 1960s. This decimated Black property ownership.
Black residents had to leave the city or move to the Bayview. And then we proceeded to ignore the needs of the Bayview neighborhood for decades.
Our city policies resulted in a decline and near erasure of the Black population. Our city was 13 percent Black in 1970. Now it’s barely five percent.
Reparations for these injustices are warranted. There is precedent. The federal government paid reparations for Japanese Americans sent to internment camps.
The Dream Keeper Initiative is one avenue to continue investing in the Black community. But not the only. It is not a substitute for reparations.
I support finding bold, meaningful, and creative ways to address the injustice of slavery and systemic discrimination suffered by generations of Black Americans. Let’s heal historic injustices while building sustained wealth for communities long denied that opportunity.
While City Hall faces a major deficit, the media and headlines keep focusing on a cash payment as if it’s the only remedy. Yet there are dozens of identified actions in the reparations report the city can take that our budget can sustain.
I appreciate the tremendous effort the Commission and the Reparations Advisory Committee made in preparing and presenting today’s draft. I understand the report is a work in progress and final recommendations will not be made or decided on until June.
Meanwhile there are concrete, tangible actions the city can take today to advance the work of equity. I’m asking the city to commit to fully staff the Office of Racial Equity.
This division of the Human Rights Commission was created in 2019 to help analyze racial disparities in city employment, centralize workforce data collection, and organize racial equity and planning efforts. Four years later it barely has any staff. Absent staff, it cannot fulfill its charter mandate.
We must equip the Office of Racial Equity with the tools and personnel to work hand-in-hand with the Department of Human Resources. City employees must be able to perform their best work without fear of discrimination or management bias.
Our role as one of the largest employers in the region is significant: we must demonstrate San Francisco’s commitment to provide equal employment, advancement, and promotional opportunities for our workforce.
I want to acknowledge the work of my colleagues President Peskin and Supervisor Walton on this important issue. I understand their offices will schedule a hearing later this spring to analyze racial equity in city employment practices. I look forward to the critical information we will learn at that hearing.