Why Reparations?

Reparations for Black people in California and the state’s sordid history with slavery is the focus of a task force created by Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators. The task force will submit proposals for reparations in June. But what are we really talking about when discussing reparations? And why now?

This first part of a KQED Live series, hosted by KQED Senior Editor of Race and Equity Otis Taylor Jr., brings together academic, policy, and journalistic perspectives to lay out the case as the task force works to address the harms of slavery and systemic racism.

Guests

• Nikki Jones, professor and chair of UC Berkeley’s Department of African American Studies 
• Sarah Treuhaft, Vice President of Research at PolicyLink
• Erika Smith, Los Angeles Times columnist