In a week where Diddy’s legal drama escalated, Donald Trump got even more terrible, and Hurricane Milton bore down on Florida’s Gulf Coast, you can be forgiven for not noticing that California passed a series of bills that could signal the beginning of a new landscape for civil rights in America.
With the passage of SB 1137, California became the first state in the nation to codify the concept of intersectionality into law. Coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Williams-Crenshaw in 1989, intersectionality offers a framework for understanding how various forms of inequality interact, exacerbating discrimination and harm.
This landmark legislation explicitly safeguards individuals with multiple marginalized identities—such as Black gay men—against discrimination.
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In addition to passing into law this groundbreaking bill, California formally apologized for its historical role in slavery and systemic oppression of Black individuals, making it the eighth state to do so.
The state has also committed to exploring reparations while addressing maternal health disparities and refining the definition of “race” to include traits such as hair texture and protective hairstyles.
These legislative advances are part of a broader suite of reforms championed by the California Legislative Black Caucus. They are rooted in the recommendations of the California Reparations Task Force, which Governor Gavin Newsom authorized in 2020 in response to George Floyd‘s murder and the global Black Lives Matter movement.
Though it might not feel like it, given the current state of our country, California reminds us that real legislative gains are being made around the country in blue states right now.
I’ll confess that even though I’m a California resident and a political observer, I had forgotten that the Reparations Task Force existed. I wasn’t aware that any of these bills had been written, let alone introduced, debated, passed, and signed into law.
I only found out about them because a friend of mine happened to be involved with the Intersectionality bill. While researching that one, I stumbled upon the others.
It was the good news I needed. It reminded me of a conversation with civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill a few years ago. She told me that while not everyone dedicates their lives and careers to the daily grind of fighting for justice, those who do deserve our unwavering support.
There are numerous ways to do that, like donating money, volunteering, and staying educated on the issues, yet one critical—and often overlooked—method is to influence the arenas where priorities are set and battles are fought.
These bills didn’t just fall out of Kamala’s coconut tree. They emerged within a context defined by a Democratic supermajority in California and the current Biden Administration.
Though it might be tempting to attribute these successes exclusively to the Democratic supermajority and dismiss the importance of the Biden Administration, I believe both were necessary because, if nothing else, the president sets the tone for the whole country.
President Biden ran to restore “the soul of America” and return dignity to the Oval Office. During his term, he fostered a political climate conducive to ambitious progressive legislation. His steady and predictable leadership created space for those who had fought back against the divisive rhetoric of the previous administration to advance their agendas.
Even in this context, some Democratic state legislators expressed concerns over the viability of reparations policy, arguing that political conditions are tenuous even in a Democratic stronghold.
Now consider an alternate reality: under a second Trump presidency, even with a Democratic supermajority, Governor Newsom and his counterparts would be perpetually sidetracked by inflammatory (often racist, sexist, and violent) comments and chaotic distractions.
Like the outer bands of a powerful hurricane, we’re already experiencing gusty weather. This environment stifles ambitious agendas, forcing lawmakers into a defensive stance that hampers progress—because, like political capital, attention and willpower are finite.
The collection of reparations legislation in California is a testament to a proactive approach nurtured by a stable political context. The state’s Democrats are signaling that, with favorable conditions, 2024 could usher in a transformative period for civil rights, paving the way for acknowledgment and redress of past injustices and extensive restoration and expansion of rights for historically marginalized communities.
The onus now lies with us—not only to vote according to our immediate interests but also to vote for an environment that empowers those we’ve elected to champion causes that align with our collective values.
In this critical moment, if we’re serious about not going back as a nation, we must stay on the offensive by voting strategically, courageously, and expansively from the President down the ballot.
If we pull this off, perhaps one day, we’ll look back on this time as the quiet beginning of a full-blown civil rights revolution.
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