The State of California Reparations Task Force findings released earlier this year have received a lot of press, some of which has been referenced here.[1] But now some polling has been conducted to determine what California voters themselves think of the idea of cash reparations. Among registered voters the recently released Berkeley Institute of Government Studies poll[2] found that 28 percent favor “cash payments to the Black descendants of slaves now living in California” as reparation. Those opposed made up 59 percent of those surveyed, while 13 percent had “no opinion.”
Much of the press surrounding this survey has emphasized the number of those polled who opposed the idea of cash reparations (a majority), however, it should be noted that a total of 41 percent of those polled not being actively opposed to the proposal is impressively high. California is no outlier either. Recent polling from the Pew Center suggests that approximately 30 percent of Americans actively support reparations for the descendants of enslaved peoples.[3]
This truly massive level of public support, though not yet constituting a democratic majority, suggests that the idea has gained serious traction in recent years, and has the potential to gain a democratic majority soon. Younger California voters are more likely to support reparations (18-29 years old: 34%), while older voters are less likely (>65 years old: %23). In fact, the percent of 18-29 year-olds not opposed to cash reparations in the Berkeley IGS poll constituted a majority at 53 percent. Seeing as how reparations for enslavers were often a part of the legal measures implemented when slavery was (even only partly) ended (including in New Jersey), the current polling represents a sea-change in opinion in just a few generations.
[1] Including “NEWS: California Reparations Panel Dives into What is Owed”: https://dionj-racialjusticereview.blogspot.com/2023/01/news-california-reparations-task-force.html and “NEWS: California Reparations Panel Oks State Apology, Payments”: https://dionj-racialjusticereview.blogspot.com/2023/05/news-california-reparations-panel-oks.html
