California county approves reparations plan, won’t rule out cash payments

Officials in California’s Alameda County have given the green light to a comprehensive compensation action plan and are not ruling out cash payments, a Board of Supervisors member told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to adopt the comprehensive reparations action plan on June 30 after more than two years of research and community engagement. Designed to address decades of systemic discrimination against Black residents, the framework takes an institutional reform approach rather than focusing primarily on direct individual cash payments.

Supervisor Nate Miley, who represents the Fourth District and has been a leading force in the reparations initiative, told Fox News Digital that the board’s immediate goal is policy reform, but they are not ruling out cash payments entirely.

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“We did not ignore this. This is one of the items of the action plan. This is not the only item,” Miley told Fox News Digital.

“I think it would have been more challenging if it had been one item or a priority item,” Miley said. “But I think there are some things that are pending, some things we can do immediately and some things we’re already doing. There may also be some more challenging things. Cash payment, that might be one of the more challenging things.”

Rather than immediately writing a check, the Alameda County Compensation Commission’s plan outlines major structural overhauls. These focus on expanding affordable housing, supporting Black economic development, increasing investments in education and health, and enacting criminal justice reforms.

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The board also approved the creation of a permanent standing committee to oversee implementation to ensure these recommendations are not ignored.

“The committee now has a plan of action. This is in our ballpark,” Miley said, looking at the board’s next steps. “We need to address this and get it done.”

Miley stated that criminal justice reform, housing and education are the three most important issues that Alameda County should prioritize.

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Evanston has awarded $25,000 in compensation payments to 44 residents, the city’s Compensation Committee announced earlier this year. (Getty Images)

“Obviously economic opportunity is another important factor,” Miley told Fox News Digital. “It’s hard to balance the four and say which is more obvious, but I think all four are important.”

“I see reparations as a way, an opportunity,” he added. “I wouldn’t say it’s a panacea, but I definitely believe it’s part of the equation that can help African Americans.”

While the county-level plan focuses on policy around payments, local leaders are already testing the waters of direct compensation.

Alameda County recently partnered with the nearby City of Hayward to establish the Russell City Compensation Fund. The fund, initially established with $900,000, has grown to $1.3 million. This project was designed to provide direct payments to survivors and descendants of Russell City, a multi-ethnic, unincorporated community seized and razed by local authorities for industrial development in the 1950s and 1960s.

Supervisor Nate Miley, who represents the Fourth District, said criminal justice reform, housing and education are the top three issues Alameda County needs to address. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

These localized efforts come amid a broader national debate about racial reparations. Most notably, the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, made headlines as the first U.S. city to distribute reparations; Provided $25,000 in housing grants to eligible Black residents to address historical housing discrimination.

But Evanston’s program is now facing a high-profile legal challenge. The initiative hit a major roadblock in June when the U.S. Department of Justice intervened in a federal class-action lawsuit arguing that Evanston’s race-based criteria violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The legal and logistical hurdles surrounding direct payments for local leaders like Miley reinforce why policy-driven reform is a more appropriate starting point.

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“And once again, that’s why paying cash isn’t always the goal,” Miley told Fox News Digital.

“The goal is: How do we get people to own housing? How do we get people to be economically stable? How do you deal with criminal justice reform? Cash doesn’t always mean these things are going to happen. We have to change policies and change programs. I think that’s where we need to invest our resources.”