Just one day after vetoing two reparations measures, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has now reportedly signed a formal apology on Thursday for the state’s “role” in slavery.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Assembly Bill 3089, which Newsom signed, required the state to offer a formal apology and memorialize the remorse in a plaque on the state Capitol.
While it is true that slavery was never lawful in California after it became a state in 1850, some contend that the state’s laws permitted slave owners to retain slaves even after the practice was prohibited in the 1849 Constitution of California.
The apology, however, does not make any progress toward reparations, as Democrats in California are under pressure from reparations advocates for the lack of progress on the issue, according to the LA Times.
In the United States, California was the first jurisdiction to establish a reparations task force.
On Wednesday, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed two reparations bills.
One of the bills would have permitted black Californians to reclaim or receive compensation for property that was confiscated by the government through eminent domain decades ago.
Newsom stated that the bill would not have been fully implemented had he signed it, as legislators had previously obstructed another piece of legislation that would have established an agency responsible for reviewing reparations claims.
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