A lot of people really don’t like the reparations plan that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors just unanimously accepted. Five million dollars per Black resident above the age of 18; a guaranteed annual income of $97,000; relief from taxes; wiping out all personal debt, and a home in the city for $1. Of course, people think this is insanity, and they’re saying so.
Now, although it’s only been a couple days since the specifics were revealed, criticism is mounting, not only in San Francisco but across the country. Twitter is on fire. As San Franciscans realize the extent and stupidity of this stunt, they’re becoming more and more resentful, and they’re letting their Supervisors know they’re fed up. So the woke Supes are fighting back, aided by propagandists like the Chronicle’s Justin Phillips. They’ve launched the backlash to the backlash, and their message is as predictable as it is insulting: If you’re against this deal, you’re a racist.
Aren’t you tired of these people playing the race card? They do it every time. If you voted to recall Chesa Boudin, you’re a racist. If you voted to recall those three School Board members, you’re a racist. If you think Lowell High School ought to remain merit-based, you’re a racist. If you were against teaching ebonics in the schools, you’re a racist. And now, if you think giving $5 million apiece to Black residents is crazy, you’re a racist. In fact, if you disagree with anything the so-called “progressives” want, you’re a racist. It’s tiresome and counter-productive. People don’t like being called racists.
This reparations thing is shaping up to tear San Francisco apart. I do not believe that a majority of the city’s voters are in favor of any form of direct-cash payments to Black residents, much less $5 million each. The Board of Supervisors is woke beyond repair, but the sensible people of San Francisco aren’t. They know when their intelligence has been insulted. The Board’s president, Aaron Peskin, claims that he was “startled in this allegedly liberal progressive city by the response that I have heard on the streets, that I have received in email and in letters, that is antithetical to my beliefs of what I think San Franciscans believe.” He shouldn’t have been “startled.” What did he expect, for people to applaud his woke display of arrogance? Did Peskin learn nothing from Boudin’s recall? The fact is, what Aaron Peskin “thinks San Franciscans believe” is a fantasy in his mind. By being so out-of-touch with what normal people actually believe, Peskin just demonstrates his unfitness to hold public office.
In a way, I’m glad the Supervisors have done this, because it’s going to force the issue of wokeism in San Francisco. Citizens will have to decide just how “progressive” they really are and which side they’re on. There ain’t no inbetween on this one.
Meanwhile, believe me, here in Oakland our own woke City Council is watching developments intensely. They’d love to impose a reparations scheme on us, but they want to see what happens first across the Bay. I hope, I pray, and I fully expect that the citizens of San Francisco will rise up and give Aaron Peskin and his fellow Supervisors a big, swift kick in the ass. And another one to Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who said that opponents of the scheme have “lost their minds” with their “overheated and irrational response.”And another one to Justin Phillips, who wrote that people who are opposed to this mad scheme are “loudmouthed San Franciscans who couldn’t stifle their bigoted thoughts.” That’s the essence of cancel culture: telling people to “stifle” their legitimate thoughts. You’re a bigot if you disagree with the race mongerer Phillips!
No, Aaron Peskin. No, Justin Phillips. No, Rafael Mandelman. You’re the ones who’ve lost your minds. We’re not going to let you drag us along into the abyss with you. You started this fight, but we, the People, are going to end it.
Steve Heimoff