San Francisco approves resolution to formally 'apologize' for the city's past 'systemic and structural' racism

San Francisco voted Tuesday to formally apologize to Black residents after decades of "institutional racism."

All 11 of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors signed on as sponsors of the resolution to apologize for the city’s complicity in "systemic and structural discrimination."

"On behalf of the City and County of San Francisco, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors offers its deepest apologies to all African Americans and their descendants who came to San Francisco and were victims of systemic and structural discrimination, institutional racism, targeted acts of violence, and atrocities," the resolution reads. "San Francisco has a long history of creating and/or enforcing laws, policies, and institutions that have perpetuated racial inequity in our city, much of which is difficult to document due to historical erasure."

When the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee published its final recommendations in July 2023, they included that "the City and County of San Francisco and its agencies must issue a formal apology for the past harms, and commit to making substantial ongoing, systemic, and programmatic investments in Black communities to address historical harms."

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A crowd listens to speakers at a reparations rally outside of City Hall in San Francisco, on March 14, 2023.  (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

"This historic resolution apologizes on behalf of San Francisco to the African American community and their descendants for decades of systemic and structural discrimination, targeted acts of violence, atrocities," supervisor Shamann Walton said. 

The resolution comes after the committee argued the city owed millions of dollars in compensation to Black residents for decades of discrimination. The committee proposed that eligible Black adult residents receive $5 million in cash payments and a guaranteed income of nearly $100,000 a year to address the racial wealth gap in the city.

According to the L.A. Times, the city’s mayor, London Breed, said that $5 million payments could amount to $100 billion, more than the city's $14 billion annual budget. The Times added that Breed is not committed to cash reparations.

Although the city officials voted unanimously to formalize an apology, some slammed the measure before it passed as insufficient due to other reparations being put on hold due to budget issues. 

The supervisors stated that the apology was just the start of reparations for Black residents in the city. 

While recognizing that the apology is an important step, Walton reportedly said more work needs to be done.

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Mayor London Breed speaks during the celebration of the 9th Annual Chinatown Night Out as San Francisco Police Department Command Staff and community members attend in San Francisco, California, United States on September 6, 2023.  (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

"This historic resolution apologizes on behalf of San Francisco to the African American community and their descendants for decades of systemic and structural discrimination, targeted acts of violence, atrocities," Walton said. "We have much more work to do but this apology most certainly is an important step."

Rev. Amos C. Brown, a member of the San Francisco reparations advisory committee and the official who proposed for the city to formally pass the apology, also said more needs to be done.

"An apology is just cotton candy rhetoric," Brown said. "What we need is concrete actions."

(San Francisco voted unanimously on Tuesday to formally apologize to Black residents after decades of "racist policies.")

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"People want an apology," supervisor Dean Preston said. "But they also want a commitment not to repeat harms."

Preston said that while city officials support issuing the apology, they still want to build "unaffordable housing for mostly wealthy, white people" on public land.