Bill to allow reparations in college admissions advancing with support of lawyers' group
Applicants who can trace their lineage back to an American enslaved before 1900 would be eligible under the proposed legislation.
Opponents say the bill clearly violates California Prop 209, which was reaffirmed by voters in 2020.
A bill that would let California colleges offer admissions preferences to descendants of slaves passed a Senate committee July 15, with backing from a leading group of Black lawyers.
Assembly Bill 7, authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Ladera Heights), passed the California Senate Judiciary Committee in an 11-2 vote. The bill permits public and private colleges to consider an applicant’s lineage to American slavery before 1900.
The California Association of Black Lawyers (CABL), which represents over 6,000 attorneys and students, attended the hearing to show support. CABL Secretary Tiega Varlack called the bill essential to educational equity.
”AB 7 doesn’t focus on race but focuses on descendants of enslaved people, a legal term of ours that gives us a better chance of surviving legal scrutiny,” Varlack told California Black Media.
AB 7 is part of the California Legislative Black Caucus’s “Road to Repair 2025” package, a 16-bill effort promoting reparations and race-based policy reform.
The bill applies to the University of California, California State University, and private institutions. Supporters argue the bill is legally distinct from race-based preferences prohibited by Proposition 209, the state constitutional ban on affirmative action.
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Opponents disagree. The Californians for Equal Rights Foundation said the bill “plainly violates Prop 209,” which was reaffirmed by voters in 2020 when they rejected a repeal effort.
Bryan said the bill corrects historic privilege in admissions, and asserted that the proposed legislation works to rectify that.