How much reparations are African American residents owed?
The California Reparations Task Force recommends the state consider “down payments” to eligible African American residents, although the task force has not indicated how much it will recommend to the Legislature as an overall price tag for reparations. It did identify ways to calculate how much African Americans in California have lost due to systemic racism in the state. This calculator uses criteria from the task force to determine the cost for an individual African American in California.
Input years of residency.
Health Harms
1850–2020
Derived from the difference in life expectancy between Black and White residents in California, 7.6 years in 2021.
Mass Incarceration & Over-policing
1971-2020
Derived from average salary for a state employee because incarcerated individuals were forced to provide unpaid labor for the state, plus loss of freedom compensation comparable to reparation payments for Japanese Americans incarcerated in World War II. The timeframe corresponds to the national War on Drugs.
Housing Discrimination
1933-2020
Derived from homeownership wealth gap from state-facilitated discriminatory redlining. The task force also provided an alternative calculation that considers unfair zoning and home lending practices.
Devaluation of Businesses
1850–2020
Estimated from missing Black business establishments and average business sale values.
Unjust Property Takings
1850–2020
The task force highlighted several instances of eminent domain and unjust taking.
The task force said the state had not yet gathered enough data to provide a specific calculation.
*Note: Updated May 10, 2023 after clarification from the task force. The task force voted to recommend the state cap losses to those experienced up to 2020 when the task force was established.
Source: California Reparations Task Force
Interactive: Erica Yee