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Letters to the Editor: Could California’s reparations work affect the presidential election?

People at a rally outside San Francisco City Hall stand under yellow umbrellas with the word Reparations written on them
People rally in support of reparations for African Americans outside San Francisco City Hall in 2023.
(Eric Risberg / Associated Press)
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To the editor: Bringing reparations up in the year of a close national election, when California politics will be on full display, is worse than stupid. People will associate this with Vice President Kamala Harris as something that will go nationwide if she wins the presidency. (“California Democrats talked a big game on reparations. They’re off to slow start,” Sept. 1)

To be clear, a state where slavery was never legal wants reparations for people who were never slaves from people who never had slaves. The logic is flawless.

The California Legislature should drop its reparations efforts or prepare for another Trump presidency.

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Benedict Lucchese, Camarillo

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To the editor: With all due respect, don’t you think we should start our reparations with Native Americans?

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We stole their land and enslaved them in the name of building America. We put them on reservations of barren land and called it “fair.” To this day, many still don’t have running water.

Shame on us. Start at the beginning and make reparations to the tribes we harmed.

Sheila Winston, West Hills

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