tonight on kqed newsroom. california tackles the challenge. we will talk with the chair of the reparations tax course erin mcdonald and look into the groundbreaking work happening at the state level. while some starbucks workers push to unionize. our panel of reporters update us on this week's big stories. blossoms fill local field as flowers explode in a super bloom. it is this week's edition

something beautiful coming to you from kqed headquarters in san francisco this friday february 11, 2022. hello and welcome to the show. tonight we are digging in for the unprecedented efforts to address the generational harms caused by slavery. some form of compensation which would go to black residents and recognition of historical and ongoing discrimination. the idea has gained traction around the nation. evanston, illinois became the first city in the nation to begin reparations to some black residents in the form of $25,000 payments. the group met for the first time last year and is beginning the process of researching how city policies may have harmed african-americans over the years and what could be done to

make amends. eric, thank you for joining us. tell us what this committee is tasked to do. >> this committee is tasked with determining the as sanctioned by the city itself. measuring that harm quantifying it in some way this isthe work to be done quantifying and offering a proposal to the board of supervisors for the harm being addressed too many methods. payments, policy change etc. that is the work before us. >> can you take us back a little and share some examples of what historical arms we are talking about? >> for example when the federal

government determined its plan for housing and urban development across the country. they initiated what they called a blight removal initiative. what that meant and ultimately meant was the exercising of what is called eminent domain and taking property back. this is a blight and we will remove the property which meant removing black folks because they did it and most primarily the quarters where black folks were living and residing in the bayview hunters point, and potrero hill, in visitation valley. most prominentlyin the fillmore. >> what did that do not only to the families then but generationally?

>> that is one of the things we want to capture the research and literal storytelling. to appreciate the depth of harm created by the trickle effect of all of that. it meant those families were removed. it meant the past individuals and families were on an economic development and small business. all of that was stolen, if you will. therefore, these families had this interruption in their past toward economic vitality that trickle down generation to generation. what we see today are individuals whose grandfathers and great grandfathers once had. that story is told over and over and over. we have the barbershop. we have the bar. have the stationary business. sadly it is we had. it is no longer there. >> it seems like such a huge

problem. to many it seems like that was something that happened in the past. here we are today. we need to look at what we are dealing with and addressing today and not looking back at these past problems. what do you say to that? >> i say two things. many of the when i often referred to as the tentacles of slavery and the ways in which it shifted the cultural norms and dynamics white supremacy, inferiority, that was then built into the very fabric and policy practices of the city that remain today. another part of our assignment so to speak is to identify the practices and policies today that still perpetuate harm on black folks. that is one part of it. the other part is again, these vesicles and tentacles are really in deep. what we see being played out over and over and over whether it is economic development, whether it is educational attainment we see the ways in which black folks in particular but not only black folks have

been treated in ways that have diminished their opportunities to xl. when we all talk about it all the time who leads negatively in all of the data? health data, education data, economic development, wage earnings. who leads at the bottom? >> what is it like for you personally as a black man who grew up in san francisco to be leading this committee now? >> i am honored. i feel a real sense of responsibility. my mother fled macomb county, mississippi when she was 15 because of the prevalence of racism. i am a native san franciscan because of that. i feel a sense of personal responsibility to my mother and to the broader community that makes up black san francisco

see that we do this well and post the generationally folks receive repair and redress and we prepare a path forward for the generations to come. >> tell me about the work the committee is doing this year and into next. you will bring your proposals to the city in 2023. >> that is correct. we spent the first three months after the as a committee really planning and thinking about how we would approach this and how we would begin to make the case. ultimately this becomes about making a case. to the board of supervisors that not only is this the right we will now began to do what we are called as community engagement. we will to small town, large town halls, local community discussions and forums, focus groups. we are also going to do some research on the policy side. we really do understand that much of what we experience today was built into the fabric

of policy and practice in this city but we want to understand understand and unpack what that is, capture the implations and then begin to assign, so to speak, the quantifiable measures of harm. ultimately we will be coming to the board of supervisors saying in some ways here is the harm, here are the receipts that demonstrate how this harm. here is the value of that and there is some combination of financial repair as well as i can imagine again we are not there yet but policy repair. >> eric, thank you for your time and for coming here. if people are interested they can send a message to us. >> thank you so much for having me. >> thank you. that is san francisco's work that we have been following whatcalifornia is doing at a statewide level.

the reparations task force began meeting last summer and has heard testimony from a range of experts from secretary of state shirley weber who wrote the bill creating the task force to university of texas at austin's chair of the history department nine a barry. >> before i begin i turned to the enslaved. when asked about her experience with slavery upon reaching freedom in canada, one woman would only give her name as mrs. said for those who wish to apologize for slavery i ask they go and experience it for a while. i am joined by members of our reporting team have been covering the state task force. otis taylor. hi otis. >> thank you both for being here and for the work you are doing to bring us into the conversation about reparations.

tell me otis, why california is looking at this issue when when california jointly issued in 1850 it was not allowed to have slavery. slavery was not permitted. >> california has this reputation of being a progressive state. what people don't realize is that narrative crumbles when you see the first 10 years of the state's history, white supremacy was baked into the very laws that governs today. when we look at racial wealth gap, disparities in outcome, education, disparities of what people earn, the ramifications of people on house and people struggling to maintain a foothold in their home is directly linked to how the state was founded. >> right now the task force is listening to testimony from many different people. let's listen to a particular piece of that testimony and come back and discuss the task force more broadly. >> the transportation infrastructure has always been a driver of racial inequality.

the benefits and burdens of our transportation system from highways to roads, bridges, sidewalks and as you just heard public transportation have been planned, developed, sustained to pull resources from black communities. this system is a daily reminder of how black people in black communities have been and continue to be sacrificed to feed america's growth and expansion. >> this is what you're talking about. >> the nine-member task force is established to study proposals for reparations for black americans specifically in california where there is special consideration for people who have been enslaved in the u.s. the task force listens to testimony personal as well as from experts. that was an example of deborah archer. she the president of aclu.

>> why is this so important? >> we need to work from the perspective by people impacted say. for too long the media has been a part of that. you have to hear from the voices of people who have been marginalized and oppressed by the systems put in place when california s founded. >> what is this commission tasked with accomplishing? >> they are tasked with coming up with proposals. they are looking at not just financial compensation but what would be a broad set. would there be policy change? would there be grants for education or housing.

how might we actually repair the harm that has been done. as otis was saying there has been a long history of harm. how do we actually assess harm and work to repair it? both financially as well as potentially apology. >> what other similar commissions have there been that have tried to tackle these tough topics? >> this reparations task force is our current commission. the kerner commission was established in 1967 to investigate why there were these uprisings and communities of color across the country. that commission found was the uprisings were a response to police brutality, lack of jobs, lack of education and furthermore the reason the kerner commission concluded was white institutions created it. white institutions maintain it and white society condones it. this commission indicted white supremacy and guess what

happened. exactly. nothing. here we are 50 something years later in and we are still trying to address the harms committed against people of color particularly black people. >> what do you expect outcomes to be? will this be a lot of talk again? do you expect there to be action? >> have a lot of expectations but i think it is really too soon to tell exactly what they are going to recommend. the next meeting is february 23rd and they will be talking about specific eligibility. they are continually talking about compensation so it is really still in the conversation but eventually they will come up with recommendations that will then be sent to the legislature so it will be up to them what happens. >> otis in terms of what reparations are on the table we are talking using tax dollars to perhaps direct payments and housing assistance. what else are you hearing? >> it can't just be money. it has to be reeducation, the

relitigation of american history. we need to set the record straight about yes, this is a great country but with that greatness we have to acknowledge the bad. we have to acknowledge the genocide of the indigenous people. have to acknowledge black people were imported like goods and forced into slavery for over two centuries. after that we have to acknowledge the harms to move forward. i believe education has to be a part of it and also land. we have to provide people with stability. >> thank you both for your time. >> thank you so much. this month we are covering the topic of reparations on our various programs not just on tv but also on our radio and digital platforms. if you would like to join the conversation check out our

special live event in person here at our newly renovated headquarters in san francisco led by otis taylor. the event is february 24 at the 7:00 be in. can learn more and register for the event at kqed.org/events. this week governor gavin newsom signed pandemic relief legislation to assist small businesses. he also extended covid-19 paid sick leave. covid case numbers are continuing to fall quickly in most of the state. the test positivity rate has dropped to 8% down from 13% last week according to the california department of public health. next wednesday february 16, interim mask mandates will be lifted statewide. counties may choose to keep their own local mandates in place like santa clara county where health officials expects to keep the mask requirements for a few more weeks. masks will still be required when writing on public transit, in schools and for everyone unvaccinated. my joining me now guy maserati and rachel.

hello and welcome to you both. valentine's day next week and the very next day breaking up with covid? is over? is that what is happening? >> i was. you know these things take a little bit longer to play out. >> what is happening in santa clara county? >> there are fferent numbers you can look at but it does look as if santa clara county's numbers are bigger than some of the other counties in the bay area. santa clara county public health officials have a histy of going their own way. dr. sarah cody had a press conference early this week she basicay said we are going to look at a number of different factors and we will lift the mask mandate when we are getting ready. >>e will watch that. tell us a little more about th legislation governor newsome has signed. >> two weeks of additional paid

sick leave. it is retro active. you think of all the californians who got sick with an omicron infection early this year i maybe had to take care of loved one infected. this will apply to them. this actually existed last year. it expired at the end of september. it was a huge priority for organized labor and their allies in the legislature to bring this back. it will be large business is picking up the tab but under the deal the governor made with legislative leaders there will be some tax credits to maybe offset some of that cost. >> in addition to february 15 and 16 being the date february 15 is the recall election date and also the election for david choose assembly seat. that is coming up as well. where do we stand on the recall of these three board members in saancisco school board members? it seems like there is a lot of money being poured in in opposition to them. >> this yes on recall campaign is spending a tremendous amount of money. this is a race that usually voters skip. it is not usually in thepublic

conscience. that has changed. it started with a big venture capitalist investments. that has shifted and in the last month we have seen traditional and political players in san francisco. the realtors starting to give to this campaign and the shadowy group of san francisco investors that has become the leading toner. when you look at this campaign you mentioned the number than the disparity betweethe yes and no. >> 22 times more. >> take every single candidate who has run for school board in san francisco since 2016 and that is about 40 candidates. all of the money they spent running it is about $1 million combined. so we are sort of extracting what is going to happen that these three board members will be ousted? >> one thing that really puts a lot of uncertainty i think that is the conventional wisdom. these records could be successful but an incredibly low turnout we have seen so far creates a lot of uncertainty. as of today roughly 20% of

voters have cast a ballot in this special election. i think that is putting all sides on edge. >> there are some people on edge down in woodside right now. woodside is a wealthy town in the south bay. rachel, tell us about what is going on there. they have put together a very unusual proposal for why they should not have to follow the state housing regulations. they have actually rolled it back. first after floating the idea that woodside might be considered a habitat for threatened mountain liens on the peninsula and there are genuinely a lot of mountain lions in woodside and areas around it, the media got wind -- social media got wind. if you say mountain liens word is going to get out because the internet loves cats. they were claiming they were a mountain lion sanctuary. >> yes. therefore they are not going to be able or they are going to put the brakes on abiding by sb

nine, the new law that basically allows for more units on any given lot. possibly this was done in an attempt to appease the denizens of woodsde again a what the community like the communities around it concerned with what it might mean to densify housing in that neighborhood. the attorney general's office got wind of the scheme and made it clear in a letter with no uncertain terms that they were cruising for a bruising unless they pull back. that is exactly what they have done. >> i do wants to turn to one other political story in san francisco. guy, this is about the conflict going on between the san úfrancisco police chief and the san francisco district attorney. last week or the week before chief scott came out and said we are not going to work with the district attorney anymore on investigating police force

cases because we think the district attorney's office isn't doing their job properly. than the district attorney said no, there is not one iota of evidence we are doing anything wrong. chief scott was on political breakdown yesterday and i am curious what he had to say about this conflict. >> his biggest message is he is not doing this out of any political necessity even though this comes as one of his officers faces a trial for assault and battery. even though his district attorney is facing a recall. you made the point that it is really the internal politics of that lost trust in the district attorney's office. he was forced to do this in response. ultimately this is a deal that took scott here to negotiate. there is a lot of incentive for both guys to give back to the table and work it out and that is a push from the district attorney and the police chief to

work something out. >> also facing a recall the election is in june. rachel, tesla is in the crosshairs again. the state of california filed a lawsuit against tesla for actions happening at the fremont factory. they say after a decade of complaints and a 32 month investigation they filed a lawsuit against tesla because of what sounds like some pretty horrific working conditions that are frankly racist at the core. they are talking about how black workers are segregated and are in other parts of the factory which are referred to as the plantation or the slave ship. black workers and on the black workers are having to scrub the floors on their hands and knees. what is going on and what is the response from tesla? tesla put out a blog post the day before this complaint was day evealed to the public. as they said this is unfair, this is looking in the rearview mirror. we already have training programs to respond to some of the concerns raised but it is worth noting just last year we

have private individuals singing in federal court over the very same kinds of complaints about a hostile work environment at the fremont factory for black workers in particular not just racial slurs by the boatloads. you will have to read the complaint if you want to hear some of that stuff because it is not family-friendly. also problems with bad job assignments for black workers. there is a definite hierarchy according to the state argument and according to the argument we saw in his federal lawsuit where that particular plaintiff was awarded more than $100 million in damages. the state lawsuit even bigger. hundreds of complaints involved. we are just going to have to see how it plays out. >> in the last few moments we have here tell us what you are working on next week. and reported job is never done. what is going on? >> we talk about the school board recall it is also on the ballot as the race to replace david chu who is the attorney.

we are likely to see on an endemic plan from governor gavin newsom. he teases this week policies to live with coronavirus that are always going to be with us and i disrupting life. the key witness and is try to keep it simple. if it is fodifferent metrics informing masking in three tiers carry the 4 has to make it understandable. rachel a couple of words? >> talk about understandable. looking to washington, d.c. and how antitrust legislation specificallyocused on big tech. >> we will be watching super bowl ads this weekend. can't wait to talk with you again soon. it is super bloom season. when fields of flowers explode in color roughly at the same time after winter rains. for this week something beautiful.

that at the end of our show for tonight. úthank you for joining us. if you would like to get a look from behind the scenes hang out with us online as well. you can email us and you can always reach me on twitter. we will see you right back here next friday night. have a great weekend.

>> foreign threats and the mastic divisions. >> an invasion could begin at any time. >> the likelihood of a russian invasion of ukraine increases. >> any american in ukraine should leave as soon as possible. >> more american troops are set to go to the area. >> they are property of the american people. >> new reporting about former president trump's handlinof top-secret paperwork. >> the word insurrection is politically charged propaganda. >> republicans at odds over how to describe the january 6 attack. >> the science is saying that masks work. >> democrats debate mask

mandates.