Victor Davis Hanson: California Was Never a Slave State—So Why Reparations?

The Daily Signal

News, Government, Politics, Daily News

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🗓️ 20 October 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

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Summary

California entered the union in 1850 as a free state—yet black Californians are about to cash out big on reparations, thanks to Gov. Gavin Newsom. So, who exactly is owed and for what? And what is Newsom’s angle here, considering his state is already facing massive deficits? Victor Davis Hanson breaks down California’s newly approved reparations agenda on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.” “ The black population of California is about 5.4% of the 41 million people. Who are going to be paying the reparations? The so-called white oppressor, victimizer class is only 42%. It is a minority. “ Who is black in a multiracial, intermarried culture? Are we going to go back to the Elizabeth Warren rule? Do we need DNA badges? Are we gonna use the old Confederate measure of one-sixteenth? 16% to 17% of the California population identify as multiracial. How do we know who is white, who is Hispanic, who is black? It's very hard to adjudicate that.” 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 👉If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273 👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Gavin Newsom has now approved a formal commission to administer reparations to black Californians.
0:07.8	Remember, when California was admitted to the union, it came in as a free state. It had no prior
0:14.6	record of being a slave state. It has never been a slave state. So there's no argument that people who happen to be in California or owed anything.
0:24.6	How do we know who is white, who is Hispanic, who is black?
0:27.6	It's very hard to adjudicate that.
0:29.6	Do we really believe that most of the African Americans in California who came after World War I and during World War II have descendants
0:39.9	that were suffering the fallout from slavery in California.
0:44.4	It's really absurd.
0:59.3	Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for The Daily Signal.
1:04.5	Here in California, which might be a model for other states as well, Governor Gavin Newsom has now approved a formal commission to administer reparations to black Californians.
1:16.6	And they're trying not to use the word reparations since it has such a bad connotation.
1:22.6	But it's a bad idea in so many ways.
1:25.6	Remember, when California was admitted to the union, it came in as a free state.
1:31.3	It had no prior record of being a slave state. It has never been a slave state. It has no
1:39.3	historical baggage as perhaps the former confederacies.
1:46.0	So there's no argument that people who happen to be in California
1:51.0	or owed anything by the state of any race.
1:55.0	The second thing is we don't know how many black Americans
1:59.0	that our residents of California could trace their lineage back to California.
2:05.5	In other words, do we really believe that most of the African Americans in California who came after World War I
2:13.1	and during World War II have descendants that were suffering the fallout from slavery in California.
2:23.9	It's really absurd.
	...

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