Governor Newsom shows his true colors with veto of reparations bills | Opinion
The Legislative Black Caucus took a gamble by playing along with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s performative games as they hoped to achieve something resembling reparations for the descendants of people once enslaved in California. In the end, they have very little to show for it.
Of the caucus’ 15 bills, only 10 made it to the governor’s desk, and he vetoed more than half of them on Monday night.
How Newsom continues to evade accountability for his blatant ignorance on issues of race is astonishing.
Just a few weeks ago, during a Twitch stream, Newsom played the “my best friend is Black” card when he deflected a question about his comments about trans women in sports by saying that his godson is transgender. But having a trans godson doesn’t mean he fully understands trans experiences, just as knowing Black people doesn’t mean he understands how to implement reparations.
Newsom is a millionaire white man who lives in his mansion in Marin County, one of the richest counties in California. We shouldn’t expect him to understand the experiences of struggling Black Californians, whose only desire is to have their ancestors’ contributions to America acknowledged with resources and money that were earned but never awarded to them.
Efforts toward reparations in California are hindered by politicians who prioritize their public image over honesty in acknowledging their opposition. This year’s session, the legislative Black Caucus rolled out a list of bills under the title “Road to Repair” because they knew the word reparations had been politicized to the point of being toxic.
Give me a break.
Since putting the issue of reparations into motion five years ago, leaders have never addressed the harm and disruption generations of oppressed Black people faced in California.
Reparations were supposed to be about repairing the harm done to enslaved Black people brought to California in the 19th century. The idea was to educate Californians that, yes, there were actually enslaved people in the Golden State. There actually were lands taken from Black people that resulted in the loss of generational income. Black people have actually been discriminated against in housing, in the workplace, in the criminal justice system and in every other facet of California life.
It was advantageous and good publicity for Newsom to play along with the idea that he actually supported reparations back in 2020. But now, when Black legislators brought him legislation to give the descendants of California slaves a leg up in college admissions, home buying, or to help Black Californians regain property taken from their ancestors, Newsom said no.
Instead, what Newsom did approve, was creating bureaucracy and data collection.
This campaign of reparations in California was doomed from the start. Its tone misses the true essence and urgency that Black Californians and Americans have wanted from their country.
The reparations that never were
Lawmakers never created reparations in the first place with these bills, so the idea never had a chance to die. Politicians disguised a fake definition as real reparations, but it was clearly inauthentic.
Newsom slowly suffocated this movement with his self-interest until there was nothing left.
It is hard for me to have any hope in this subject. Black lives have fought for a glimpse of reparations for years, but it was always dependent on white people like Newsom who is your friend until he is not.
And honestly, any future governor of California will probably also struggle with reparations for the crime of slavery. Reparations for Black people will always be a hard sell to white Americans because of the gap that was created by generations of privilege.
But the real losers in all of this is the Legislative Black Caucus. They stand as the lone group of leaders that can make change for the Black community in this state, and yet they have shaped reparations to fit a white man’s definition of it.
If the caucus really wants to make change, they need to call out Newsom for the out-of-touch white man that he is. Then they would start to remember who they work for: the people.
This story was originally published October 14, 2025 at 11:40 AM.
