According to a formula developed by California Reparations Task Force (a nine-member committee appointed by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom), the total amount due to black Californians who were victimized by War on Drugs from 1970 to the present is over $225 billion.

The figure is based on “an annual reparations amount” of $159792 calculated by multiplying “the disproportionate number of years African Americans spent in prison” by “what an average California state employee earns per year (since incarcerated people were forced to work for the state unpaid).

The Task Force’s experts added compensation for lost freedom, similar to Japanese American World War II prisoner, and arrived at $159 792 per year in 2020 dollars of disproportionate imprisonment.

According to this formula, California should pay over $225 billion in damages for alleged incarceration-related racism alone.

The Task Force divided compensation into three broad categories: health damages dating back to 1850s; housing discrimination; and mass incarceration.

The Task Force estimated that “for every year of life without anti-Black racism discrimination”, the value would be $127.226. This figure is calculated by dividing an estimated $10,000,000 in lifetime earnings by the “white non-Hispanic life expectancy in California,” or 78.6.

After the publication of this report, Reginald Jones Sawyer, a committee member, told CBS that “not being able own your own business, not having access to capital and not being hired, moving up, and matriculating — all those things prevented us from being in a position to naturally rise.”

He intends to release a bill that will accompany the draft for the 2024 legislative session.

The group was formed by Governor Newsom following nationwide racial demonstrations in response to the murder of George Floyd, in May 2020.

The Task Force adopted a motion in March 2022 that outlined eligibility for payouts. “An individual must be an African American descendant from a chattel slave or descendant from a free Black who lived in the US before the end of 19th century.”

Using this definition, it is expected that 7 percent of Californians will qualify for reparations. Some are, however, disappointed by the lineage based approach that was adopted by the Task Force. It could potentially exclude black immigrants.

Cal Matters reported that the motion was split, with five members voting for it and four voting against. We must include both present and future harms. “The system people are advocating here, in which we cut things up and only benefit one small piece, will not reduce the harms caused by racism,” said Lisa Holder, a member of Cal Matters’ committee.

In a Pew Research poll conducted in November 2022, only 18 percent (of white Americans) supported reparations. However, over three quarters (75%) of African Americans agreed.

“It’s a part of our history.” It was brutal. The story of oppression is important and should be told. Bob Woodson, an American black who opposes reparations and is opposed to reparations on CBS News, said: “But we should never define us by what disabled”

The Task Force, however, insists that compensations recommended by the Task Force are not sufficient, even though the amount is staggering for an economy struggling to balance its books.

The group stated in the final section of the report that “no amount could encompass the full extent of damage caused by slavery and discrimination.”