California Apologizes for Role in Perpetuating Slavery Amid Push for Reparations

California has formally apologized for its role in perpetuating slavery in the state with the signing of a bill Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, even as a larger push for reparations faces challenges.

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The bill passed with unanimous bipartisan support in the legislature. California joins a handful of other states that have issued formal apologies for slavery.

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The new law also requires the state to install a plaque memorializing the apology in a public and conspicuous location in the State Capitol.

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California became a state in 1850, declaring itself a free state which outlawed slavery. But in practice, it allowed slaves to be brought into the state and continued to enforce fugitive slave laws, with the state Supreme Court declaring the anti-slavery law was simply a “declaration of a principle.” The state also opposed civil rights laws, enacted racial barriers such as poll taxes and literacy tests, prohibited interracial marriage, and openly sanctioned widespread segregation and discrimination against Black Californians.

The bill signing came a day after Newsom vetoed a Senate bill to help Black families reclaim or be compensated for property seized by the state through eminent domain. {snip}

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Thursday’s bill-signing ceremony included other bills prioritized by the California Legislative Black Caucus that address systemic racism. Among them is one requiring the state to review books in banned prisons, another protecting the right to wear “natural and protective” hairstyles in competitive sports, a bill that addresses food and medical “deserts” in communities of color, and a bill to enforce an existing law requiring perinatal health care workers to complete anti-bias training.