Greater Los Angeles JACL will present a free virtual program, “Japanese American Support for African American Reparations,” on Sunday, April 16, at 1 p.m.
Assembly Bill 3121, enacted on Sept. 30, 2020, establishes the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. AB 3121 charges the California Department of Justice with providing administrative, technical, and legal assistance to the task force.
AB 3121 charges the Reparations Task Force with studying the institution of slavery and its lingering negative effects on living African Americans, including descendants of persons enslaved in the U.S., and on society. Additionally, the task force will recommend appropriate remedies of compensation, rehabilitation, and restitution for African Americans, with a special consideration for descendants of persons enslaved in the U.S.
By statute, the task force issued a report to the Legislature — which is available to the public — on June 1, 2022.
Ron Wakabayashi, national director of the Japanese American Citizens League in the 1980s and former regional director with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service, will be presenting.
The presentation is for the purpose of requesting endorsement of the AB 3121 mission. An endorsement campaign has been initiated to support broad community engagement with this issue.
For a Zoom link to the program, RSVP to greaterlajacl@gmail.