A bill awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature this week would allow California colleges and universities to give preference in admissions to descendants of slaves.
Assembly Bill 7 permits but does not require colleges to give this preference.
Brandon Greene, director of policy advocacy for the Sacramento-based Western Center on Law and Poverty, noted the bill was inspired by the recommendations of the California Reparations Task Force.
“As was well documented via the task force, California had an explicit role in perpetuating decades of harm on the descendants of chattel slaves despite it being a free state,” Greene explained. “The consequences of that legacy of harm are clearly seen in the housing disparities, racialized wealth gaps and systemic involvement, and houselessness, to name a few.”
California voters outlawed the use of race in college admissions almost 30 years ago with Proposition 209.
The Trump administration has vowed to fight policies like this, in court and through denial of federal funds. The bill intentionally does not use race as a criterion, since not all Black Americans are descended from slaves, and not all slaves were Black. Supporters noted a similar program in Nevada benefits descendants of tribal members.
Greene argued the time has come to take concrete action to address the legacy of slavery.
“At this moment in history, as our country barrels towards a reckoning not only with its past, with the present, ways of which nativism and white supremacy are further entrenching themselves in our day-to-day lives, it’s vital that California pave the way for how truth reconciliation and repair can look,” Greene contended.
The bill has already passed both houses of the state Legislature. The governor has until Sunday to sign the bill, veto it or allow it to take effect without a signature.
