Bring the history of the reparations movement in America into your classroom by exploring a rarely discussed chapter of California history—the hostility toward Black settlements. This adaptation of KQED’s five-part video series The Road to Reparations in California examines how thriving Black communities were systematically dismantled and turned into ghost towns, accompanied by lesson plans to deepen student engagement.
The first video in the series, California Task Force Reparations Study outlines the objectives of California’s Historic Reparations Task Force, providing insight into the international definition of reparations to examine the effects of racism in America.
The second video in the series, Civil Liberties Act of 1988, explores the journey of the Japanese people who experienced incarceration during World War II and illuminates how the civil rights movement led by Black leaders inspired the Japanese American community to lobby for reparations.