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The Bill:
On Thursday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that officially apologized for California’s role in American slavery—and will put a plaque in the state’s capitol symbolizing the apology.
The bill, AB 3089, states that California “recognizes and accepts responsibility for all of the harms and atrocities committed by the state, its representatives thereof, and entities under its jurisdiction who promoted, facilitated, enforced, and permitted the institution of chattel slavery.”
Through the legislation, the state also recognizes “the enduring legacy of ongoing badges and incidents from which the systemic structures of discrimination have come to exist.”
In a statement, Newsom said California is “taking another important step forward in recognizing the grave injustices of the past” and “making amends for the harms caused.”
The Backlash:
Breitbart, a far-right outlet formerly run by Steve Bannon, covered the news and brought it to the attention of many right-wing influencers, who trashed the bill and deemed it “virtue signaling.”
“Gavin Newsom signed reparations bills Thursday apologizing for slavery even though California entered the union a free state with slavery as illegal,” Paul Szypula wrote. “This is peak virtue signaling by Newsom.”
“So let me get this right,” Gunther Eagleman posted, “a state that never permitted slavery is now paying people who were never slaves?”
Though Breitbart and others called the bill reparations, it is not.
The California state government has not yet passed billsthat would implement cash reparations for Black residents.
Other X users slammed Newsom and California with insulting nicknames, like “Gavin Gruesome” and “Commiefornia.”
“Gavin Greusome is a special kind of stupid,” an X user wrote.
“Since 1850 when #Commiefornia was admitted into the Union as a free-state, it has never allowed slavery,” another person said. “So what is it apologizing for?”
The Background:
Many other states have apologized for slavery, including others that did not permit slavery within their borders.
California has set itself apart, however, with the amount of progress it has made toward implementing reparations for Black residents via its first in the country state reparations taskforce.
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