{"id":495584,"date":"2026-10-14T07:44:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T07:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/495584\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T07:44:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T07:44:21","slug":"newsom-signs-corporate-slavery-bill-but-advocates-demand-cash-reparations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/495584\/","title":{"rendered":"Newsom signs corporate slavery bill, but advocates demand cash reparations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Advocates for racial reparations celebrated a legislative victory<\/a> in California after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2599 \u2014 the Truth in Disclosure Act \u2014 into law. But key figures behind the effort say corporate transparency is only a starting point, maintaining that direct cash compensation remains essential.<\/p>\n

Kristin Nimmers, policy and campaign manager for the California Black Power Network (CBPN) and the Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth, told Fox News Digital financial reparations must go far beyond a “single check.”<\/p>\n

“We really focus on a harm-based approach, so whoever was harmed should be entitled to that repair,” Nimmers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Compensation for slavery, unpaid labor, for the 40 acres and a mule that were promised after the end of slavery \u2014 that should go to folks who have lineage and are descendants of people who were enslaved because that is the harm that is being repaired.”<\/p>\n

REPARATIONS ADVOCATES SLAM CASH COMPENSATION \u2018HANDOUT\u2019 LABEL, POINT TO PAST GOVERNMENT REMEDIES<\/a><\/p>\n

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A California lawmaker is trying to make sure reparations payments to Black residents do not get taxed if the effort becomes a reality. (iStock)<\/p>\n

However, Nimmers emphasized that racial inequities persisted long after the end of chattel slavery.<\/p>\n

“Black Americans were denied wages. We were denied property. We were denied access to capital. We were denied access to equal education \u2014 all of that over hundreds of years,” Nimmers added. “And, so, a single check is not going to holistically repair our communities.”<\/p>\n

AB 2599<\/a> requires qualifying corporations doing business in California with more than $100 million in gross revenue to search their historical records and publicly disclose any financial ties to chattel slavery. Lawmakers and advocacy groups are now attempting to leverage the bill’s passage as momentum to turn broader recommendations from the California Reparations Task Force into law.<\/p>\n

During the multiyear tenure of the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans (established under AB 3121), CBPN served as an official state community anchor. The coalition facilitated grassroots civic engagement across California, hosting listening sessions to gather public testimony that directly informed the task force\u2019s landmark 1,100-page final report issued in 2023.<\/p>\n

CALIFORNIA COUNTY APPROVES REPARATIONS PLAN AS NEIGHBORING SCHOOL DISTRICT ‘BLACK THRIVING’ EFFORT STALLS<\/a><\/p>\n

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Black New Yorkers demand cash reparations from the government as state officials work toward issuing some form of compensation for slavery or other past racial injustices. (\u00a0)<\/p>\n

However, the path forward for direct cash payouts<\/a> remains difficult. While Newsom signed AB 2599, the governor has consistently taken a cautious stance on direct financial restitution, resisting high-cost payout proposals and vetoing related financial measures backed by progressive lawmakers.<\/p>\n

Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment regarding CBPN’s support for cash payments.<\/p>\n

Progressive coalitions also face internal ideological divisions within the broader movement. Grassroots organizations like the U.S. Freedmen Project,<\/a> comprised of self-identified “Foundational Black Americans,” strongly disagree with broader, harm-based eligibility frameworks. The group aims to educate the public on the legal and historical distinctions between African Americans who directly descend from enslaved people in the U.S. and those who voluntarily immigrated to the country in recent decades.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Freedmen Project told Fox News Digital that recent immigrants and Black Americans who do not meet its ancestry criteria should not be included in government reparations programs, arguing that left-leaning advocates are using the legacy of slavery to fund a far broader social platform.<\/p>\n

Nimmers pushed back on lineage-only requirements, arguing that systemic discrimination in the 20th century affected a wider range of Black residents.<\/p>\n

NEWSOM SIGNS FIRST-IN-NATION LAW FORCING MAJOR COMPANIES TO REVEAL SLAVERY-ERA TIES: ‘MAKE IT PUBLIC’<\/a><\/p>\n

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The groups express reparations as a broader structural change in the “racial wealth gap,” policing and incarceration, “environmental racism,” and “underfunded schools.” (\u00a0)<\/p>\n

“If you are a Black person \u2014 maybe a Black immigrant who came here in the 1950s before the Civil Rights Act was passed \u2014 then you also experienced segregated schools,” Nimmers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“If you experienced segregated schools, if you experienced redlining, and we are coming up with some sort of policy or some sort of form of repair for those things, then you should also be included in the group that is repaired. It isn\u2019t really a lineage-based outlook but more of a harm-based approach.”<\/p>\n

While state-level cash proposals<\/a> remain stalled, localized initiatives have moved forward. Earlier this year, the Reparations Committee in Evanston, Illinois<\/a>, approved $25,000 housing grants to 44 Black residents. City officials focused on housing, calling historical redlining and discriminatory zoning “the strongest case for reparations.”<\/p>\n

For California advocates, the long-term goal remains a comprehensive package encompassing both financial compensation and systemic policy reform.<\/p>\n

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“Reparations is not a handout. It is about acknowledging, addressing and repairing harm,” Nimmers told Fox News Digital. “What is the repair for that harm, and who fits within the group that was harmed? It’s necessary because we are owed that compensation for unpaid labor and historical harms.”<\/p>\n

Joshua Q. Nelson is a reporter for Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

Joshua focuses on cultural trends, education<\/a>, and public policy. He extensively covered reparations developments across the U.S., the Department of Education, and immigration issues.<\/p>\n

Joining Fox News Digital in 2019, he previously graduated from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and received the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Public Policy Certificate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Story tips can be sent to joshua.nelson@fox.com and Joshua can be followed on Instagram<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and LinkedIn<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n