According to a 2022 draft plan, the City of San Francisco is reviewing a proposal that would enable each qualifying black person to receive a staggering $5 million in reparations payments.

In order to qualify for such a payment, the recipient would need to be 18 years of age or older, identify as a black or African American on government issued documents for ten years, and have two qualifications ranging from drug-related arrests or slavery.  The proposal before the city would also recommend that San Francisco formally apologize for any past wrongdoings, create a new government office specifically charged with implementing the reparations plan, and establish another government committee which would “ensure equity and continuity in the implementation of relevant policy initiatives.”

According to the proposal, “San Francisco’s international reputation as a shining progressive gem in the west is undermined by its legacy of mistreatment, violence towards, and targeted racism against Black Americans. While neither San Francisco, nor California, formally adopted the institution of chattel slavery, the values of segregation, white supremacy and systematic repression and exclusion of Black people were legally codified and enforced.”

More eligible recipients would include those that were incarcerated in the “failed War on Drugs,” or those who were descendants of someone enslaved before 1865, or those who were descendants from the city’s 1954-1973 urban renewal project.

Additional qualifications would include those who were born or moved to San Francisco between 1940-1996, were residents for 13 years or more and experienced discrimination.  The discrimination could have been in the housing market or segregation of the public school system.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the city’s budget has recently included large spending programs such as a housing program aimed to address their staggering homeless crisis.  However the $160 million budget only produced 70 rooms that proved to be a rat-infested hotel which harbored violent crimes, drug usage and overdoses, and lack of sanitation.

The city projects the homeless population to be more than 7,700 and despite the staggering $160 million budget allocated to address the crisis, the San Francisco residents still see much drug use, cars being broken into, theft, harassment and public defecation.

If the city can’t come close to solving the homeless problem with a large budget, how could they even come close to addressing the complicated issue of reparations, and who would be paying for this possibly endless government program?