May 10, 2023 4:45pm EDT
California reparations committee demands state apologize for Reagan using term 'welfare queen'
State task force calls for legislature, governor to apologize for slavery, anti-Black discrimination
By Aaron Kliegman | Fox News
California's reparations task force is calling on the Golden State to issue a formal apology for former Gov. Ronald Reagan coining the term "welfare queen" and for a disproportionately low number of Black Californians working as doctors and lawyers as part of a broader effort to make amends for slavery and racism.
The task force, which was created by state legislation signed by incumbent Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020, formally approved over the weekend its final recommendations to the California Legislature, which will then decide whether to implement the measures and send them to the governor's desk to be signed into law.
Among the recommendations is for California to issue a formal apology enacted by the legislature and signed by the governor for slavery and anti-Black racism.
"The legislature must apologize on behalf of the state of California and the people of California for the perpetration of gross human rights violations and genocide of Africans who were enslaved and their descendants through public apology, requests for forgiveness, censure of state perpetrators, and tributes to victims," the task force writes in its proposal.
excerpt:
The task force says Reagan deployed the remark when he served as the governor of California from January 1967 to January 1975. However, the term "welfare queen" became popularized when Reagan used it during the 1976 presidential campaign after he left the governor's mansion.
The so-called "welfare queen" referred to a mixed-race woman named Linda Taylor, according to a 2019 biography that portrayed her as a con artist and criminal. While Taylor was prosecuted for welfare fraud and reportedly abused the system, critics argue she wasn't a good example of a typical welfare rule breaker and her story was used to fuel stereotypes. The task force argues that "welfare queen" is a racist term to denigrate primarily single Black women who live on government benefits.
"This terminology conjures stereotypes of single Black women as hypersexualized, aggressive, and dependent on government income with frivolous spending habits," the report states. "Despite that the majority of welfare recipients are white, this racist label blamed African American women for shortfalls in the United States' social safety net and suggested they were more responsible for their poverty than others."
Beyond Reagan, the task force also wants the California Legislature to apologize for there being disproportionately fewer Black doctors and lawyers.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-reparations-committee-demands-state-apologize-reagan-using-term-welfare-queen
