Santa Clara County community mobilizes for reparations for African Americans

San Jose, CA – On the evening of Thursday, November 13, around 25 people gathered at the Santa Clara County Human Rights Commission meeting to advocate for reparations for African Americans. Those present encouraged the commission to pass a recommendation on to the board of supervisors to assemble a reparations task force to research how reparations could be implemented in the county.

Organizations such as African American Community Service Agency (AACSA), Afro-UPRIS, National Coalition 100 Black Women, NAACP San Jose/Silicon Valley, and Nikkei Resisters were present in support of the item.

In Santa Clara County, where around 2.2% of the population is African American, the unhoused population in the county is disproportionately African American at 19%. African American infant mortality rates in the county are four times higher than white and Asian infants at 7.9 mortalities per 1000 births.

Tomara Hall, of Afro-UPRIS, addressed the commission noting the 90% increase in rent costs over the last ten years, saying, “For the Black community, over 30% of us are severely cost-burdened including me, a Black teacher in the county.”

Hall continued addressing the commission, saying, “I hope you can support reparations, just like the United Nations commission asked for reparations and restitution.”

Susan Hayasa, of San Jose Nikkei Resisters and veteran of the 1980s reparations movement for Japanese Americans who were incarcerated, said to the commission, “Reparations are overdue and it is possible, reparations for slavery is deserved. Reparations is the only way to fix systemic injustice and inequities.”

Milan Balinton, executive director of AACSA, spoke to the commission, first quoting Coretta Scott King saying, “Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom never really won, you earn it and you win it in every generation. And this is our generation to win it.”

Balinton continued saying, “Reparations is not charity. It is moral and a civic responsibility and an investment in justice, healing and shared humanity for the future of all generations.”

The commission unanimously voted to forward the recommendation for the board to have a reparations task force. The item will go to the Children, Seniors and Families Committee next.

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