NEWSOM AGREES CAL STATE UNIVERSITY SHOULD BE GIVEN $$$$ TO “STUDY” REPARATIONS:  The push for slavery reparations in California hasn’t died just because Newsom vetoed this year’s crop of reparations bills.  Cal State University is being given money to try to determine how individuals should prove that they are such descendants (just in case actual reparations are approved later).

This task may be harder than the supporters of reparations think.  If they throw up their hands and say, “Hey, if you just show us that you had black ancestors back in 1900, we’ll assume you are descended from American slaves somewhere in the past,” they are relying on race (which they probably can’t do).  On the other hand, my understanding is that more than 99% of the 1890 census records were lost in a fire, so tracing one’s ancestors back further than 1900 will be difficult for lots of people.  Once you get back to the censuses of 1860 and earlier, it gets really difficult.

As soon as I am through writing the book I’ve been working on, I hope to write something on the California reparations issue.