Guest Commentary written by

Reggie Jones-Sawyer

Reggie Jones-Sawyer

Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Los Angeles Democrat, represents California’s 57th District. He served on the California Reparations Task Force.

California has a rich and complex history. With that, comes a responsibility to acknowledge and address the painful legacy of slavery.

Even though California was accepted into the union as a free state, it had a significant role in perpetuating racial discrimination and inequality. The way we treated Black Californians over the ensuing decades was derived directly from Jim Crow laws and slave-holding southern states.

For those that argue the absurd dogma that California was not a slave state, it was in many ways. California didn’t need plantations to institute discriminatory laws and practices targeting Black Californians. It denied basic rights and opportunities to entire generations.

These racist laws persisted long after slavery officially ended, as is evident by the segregation, exclusion and violence endured by Black California since the state’s inception in 1850.

The evidence is laid out in the California Reparations Task Force’s historic final report, which was written by serious academics and scholars, and whose use of historical and empirical data outlined the case for reparations. This must first start with an apology for the harms caused to Black Californians.

We do not need to delve that far into history to see the discriminatory laws that were put into place to keep Black communities from accessing housing, education and employment. While redlining, the practice by financial institutions to designate certain neighborhoods as unviable or prevent people from obtaining home loans in certain areas, formally ended in 1967, it persisted well into the 1990s.

An official apology from the state of California represents a crucial step toward reconciliation and healing. Assembly Bill 3089, which passed the Assembly last month, would require it.

Learn more about legislators mentioned in this story.

Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer

Democrat, Former State Assembly, District 57 (Los Angeles)

Rectifying historical injustices and fostering a more inclusive society should be our goal, but this can only begin if we admit to the sins of our past. Doing so will help to remind us that we must continue to work on dismantling systemic racism and promoting equity.

California’s apology for accepting slave laws into its core legal, judicial and law enforcement practices is not just about the past – it is about shaping a better future.