BERKELEY — A task force is recommending that Berkeley schools explore making financial payments to students who’re descendants of slaves within the U.S. as part of a bigger reparations program. The program might be funded by corporations, philanthropic foundations or a brand new city property tax.
In a presentation to the Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education on Wednesday, the 18-member Reparations Task Force also called for the event of additional curricula on the history and legacy of slavery. The ideas are a part of a 54-page report that outlines various kinds of reparations the district could make to right the wrongs done to descendants of slavery in the college district.
“Reparations is one of the promises we must keep,” said Kad Smith, a Berkeley High School graduate and head of the duty force, throughout the board meeting. “The school district has an opportunity at this special moment to show that we are committed to keeping our promises to students who are descendants of slaves.”
The task force compiled 15 kinds of possible reparations and identified 12 possible funding sources, but only really useful three ideas in each category.
As a type of compensation, the duty force recommends that the district provide money for educational purposes to students whose ancestors were enslaved, although this might be broadly defined to cover essential living expenses equivalent to housing. They also recommend making a damage report documenting the impact of racial segregation, discriminatory policies and other legacies of slavery in BUSD, in addition to developing recent classroom units on the subject.
To fund the county's reparations program, the duty force recommends the county pursue philanthropic and company donations and launch a lawsuit against private corporations that profited from the legacy of slavery and led to cuts in funding for the college district. A 3rd idea, putting a brand new property tax on the ballot, would have to be pursued by the general public, not the county, since the hurdle for passing a city initiative is barely a straightforward majority, in comparison with the two-thirds majority required for a county measure, the group noted.
The country has a history of creating reparations payments to abused groups, said Adena Ishii, co-chair of the duty force. Her family received financial compensation after being among the many roughly 120,000 Japanese-Americans placed in internment camps during World War II.
“I think it’s so important that I stand here in solidarity as a Japanese American and as an Asian American,” Ishii said.
The district established the duty force in 2023 after a citizen group independently conducted extensive research into reparations and community support for the initiative from 2020 to 2022, the duty force report states. That work culminated in a letter to the college board requesting that a task force be formally established.
The report received widespread support at Wednesday's board meeting, with some holding signs reading “Berkeley Supports Reparations” and cheering every time the work was mentioned. In the audience was Kamilah Moore, chair of the state's Reparations Task Force and a reparations legal scholar who was amongst the numerous experts who contributed to the BUSD task force's work.
Board member Laura Babitt became emotional throughout the presentation, speaking concerning the harm black Americans have experienced and what she described as political risk for her, Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel and other district leaders desirous about pursuing the equity initiative.
“I think about how I teach my children that they are a slave's hope and dream and that they have a responsibility,” Babitt said of encouraging her children's success. “We stand on shoulders and have no excuses not to succeed because perseverance is in our blood.”
Board Vice Chair Ka'Dijah Brown said the report was timely provided that Wednesday, June 19, is a vacation marking the day the last group of slaves in Confederate territory were notified of their freedom. It was also noted several times that the report was submitted on the identical day the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by two survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, a 1921 attack by a white mob on a thriving black community that left about 300 people dead and displaced many others.
A poll conducted between December and January showed support for various kinds of reparations. Of the nearly 2,300 community respondents, 85% were in favor of economic reparations for educational purposes, 69% were in favor of additional curriculum on the history and legacy of slavery, and 63% were in favor of documenting the harm done to deceased students.
The school board directors acknowledged the community's support for remediation, praised the work of the duty force, and strongly reiterated their commitment to review the report's recommendations in the autumn.
“We know there is nothing that can undo this damage,” Brown said. “But we know this is a step in the right direction.”
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