San Francisco certainly is taking its time in bringing racial justice to the city. I've been writing about reparations for a long time. Back in 2023, I reported that a San Francisco panel studying reparations had proposed a one-time payment of $5 million to each black resident of the city. Not only that, but the reparations panel also suggested wiping out all debt, including credit card debt, for every black household, guaranteed annual incomes of at least $97,000 for 250 years, and homes in San Francisco for just $1 a family. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voiced its enthusiastic support for the plan and approved a $50 million advance to create an Office of Reparations. (New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul has also created a commission on reparations.)
San Francisco can do what it wants with the money it doesn't have, but reparations on a federal scale? No way.
Last month, Mayor Daniel Lurie signed legislation to establish a reparations fund "for qualified black residents."
BREAKING: San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie SIGNS legislation to approve the establishment of a fund to distribute reparations to qualified Black residents. pic.twitter.com/yqIjsm2zUr
— Richie Greenberg (@greenbergnation) December 27, 2025
A few days ago, Richie Greenberg posted a partial list of the 100-point plan, which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called "the woke mind virus in its most aggressive form."
This is the woke mind virus in its most aggressive form… https://t.co/wMgwzEhlFX
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 2, 2026
In case that's too small to read, here's the list:
• Committee alleges “Genetic trauma”
• Committee alleges even today, a current policy of “white supremacy”
• Committee advocates to overturn Prop 209, CA state law
• Committee seeks to be independent of government of San Francisco
• Committee seeks exclusively Black credit scores
• Committee seeks to create Black banks
• Committee seeks Black credit card/loan debts forgiven
• Committee seeks Black business tax and payroll tax exemptions
• Committee desires creating a Black land and building acquisition trust
• Committee seeks to refinance current Black mortgages
• Committee seeks San Francisco pay for Black condo fees, parking, repairs
• Committee proposes convert Black public housing to condos, $1 buyout
• Committee proposes home vacancies of 3+ months given priority to Black residents
• Committee proposes purchase and run Black community centers
• Committee seeks to prioritize Black industries
• Committee prioritizes Black employment training, certification, contracts
• Committee seeks Black tax relief and exemption from payroll tax
• Committee to create Black campuses: Black business hubs, manufacturing, cannabis, media, AI, biotech
• Committee seeks takeover vacant downtown San Francisco office space
• Committee seeks repeal CA Article 34 (voter approval for public housing)
• Committee seeks cash payments to Blacks to alleviate stress and anxiety caused by financial insecurity
• Committee seeks funding Black schools, Black churches
I'm sorry, but you lost me at "genetic trauma" — that the trauma of enslavement could be passed through generations through DNA. I remember writing a piece about how sleep was racist because of genetic trauma. From the late Teen Vogue:
Fannie Sosa and Navild Acosta were tired, but it wasn’t just any old fatigue. Yes, they experienced a lack of sleep, but they were specifically experiencing a generational fatigue familiar to Black people and people of color. From this sleeplessness, the two created Black Power Naps.
“It came from understanding that the American dream is a sleepless one,” Sosa said. “ We inherited this exhaustion.”
Even though I'm certain my ancestors never owned slaves, I realize that I'm still connected to white supremacy through systemic racism. As a white man, I benefit from living under a government that was created by and for white people.
Again, no.
Quite the list.
— J. W. Bouckaert (@jwbouckaert) January 3, 2026
It really is. Just look at it with awe and disbelief. Not one of those points is valid. But if San Francisco wants to go ahead, that's fine … just don't use any federal money to fund it. Let the city pay for it out of its reparations fund.
Last spring. Rep. Summer Lee said that she planned to introduce the Reparations NOW resolution. She and Squad member Rep. Ayanna Pressley took to the podium to introduce their multi-trillion-dollar reparations resolution. They called the event, “Why We Can’t Wait: Advancing Reparative Justice in Our Lifetime."
Yeah, not convinced. Reparations? Not in my lifetime, or my children's lifetimes.
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