California sets stage for slavery reparations, Uvalde funerals continue: 5 Things podcast
On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: California says slavery legacy requires 'comprehensive reparations'
Bill Keveney reports. Plus, Uvalde funerals continue, Supreme Court correspondent John Fritze reports on a decision affecting a Texas social media rule, more weapons head to Ukraine and the Atlantic hurricane season begins.
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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Wednesday, the 1st of June, 2022. Today, the conversation around reparations in California. Plus funerals begin in Uvalde, Texas, and more.
Here are some of the top headlines:
Eurozone inflation hit a record 8.1% last month. The previous record in the countries that use the Euro currency, was 7.4% in March and April.
One person was killed and two injured yesterday in a shooting after a high school graduation in Louisiana. New Orleans police are investigating the incident as a homicide.
And today is the start of Pride Month. The month celebrates LGBTQ voices and experiences, and dates back to 1969, when New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in Manhattan.
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A report out later today from a reparations task force, shows that the harm to African Americans that began with slavery, continues to this day through systemic discrimination in California, and that the state should make comprehensive reparations. Reporter Bill Keveney has the details.
Bill Keveney:
California has a first in the nation's state reparations task force that's looking at discrimination against Black Americans over the centuries from slavery until the present day. And their goal is to come up with a proposal for some kind of reparation plan to provide compensation to Black state residents. It focuses on the state. It's also being looked at in other parts of the country as perhaps a model for what other states might consider. There's movement in Washington for a federal effort on this regard, regarding reparations. So it's in the spotlight. It's also a contentious issue. A 2019 Gallup poll showed strong support among Black Americans and more opposition from white Americans. It's a contentious issue, but task force members and supporters believe that there's momentum for this, especially in light of the 2020 social justice movement that broke out after the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others.
PJ Elliott:
Is there an amount for the reparations that's being looked at? And is there a timeline for when they could be paid out, if they're paid out?
Bill Keveney:
No, the details are central to anything like this. First of all, everything they do is a recommendation. It's made to the state legislature and governor, which commissioned the task force. Its term runs out next year. And in the next year, their goal is to come up with specifics of a plan. How much it would cost? How it would be distributed and in what amounts? Eligibility requirements. They have made one major eligibility requirement in that, for reparations themselves, they're only available to descendants of people who were enslaved or free in the US in the 19th century. This report also includes a bunch of other reforms designed to make things like housing, education, and the legal system fairer. But those go beyond specific compensation reparations. I relied on a draft report that task force members expected wouldn't undergo substantial change.
Taylor Wilson:
You can find Bill's full story in today's show description.
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The teacher, who police initially said left a door propped open before a gunman entered Robb Elementary School last week, actually closed the door, though it did not lock. That's the latest change made by authorities to the account of events of last week's massacre that left 19 children and two teachers dead. The new development adds to a list of revised accounts from authorities. That includes conflicting accounts about how and why police waited more than an hour while the shooter locked himself in a classroom with the children, many of whom could have possibly been saved, had police acted sooner.
Meanwhile, funerals have begun this week in Uvalde. Amerie Jo Garza was the first victim to be buried. She was laid to rest yesterday after being murdered at the age of 10. Attendees wore mostly purple, her favorite color, some wore Girl Scout vests. Last week, the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas awarded Amerie a Bronze Cross medal. One of the highest honors for Girl Scouts. The award is reserved for Scouts who show extraordinary heroism or have risked their life to save another person. Her stepfather Angel Garcia told CNN that two of Amerie's friends confirmed that during the shooting, she tried to call 911 before she was killed.
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The Supreme Court has blocked Texas from enforcing a law banning social media from moderating content. Critics say that outcome would've forced extremist material onto the platforms. Supreme Court correspondent John Fritze explains the decision.
John Fritze:
So this was a law signed last year by Republican Governor Abbot in Texas, similar to a number of laws, sort of cropping up in conservative states across the country in response to complaints by former President Trump and other conservatives who argue that some of these social media platforms censor Republican voices. There's a lot of debate about that. There's not a lot of evidence that that's the case, but that has been a talking point for a long time. Certainly, Twitter doesn't have Trump on there anymore, right? So that's sort of that argument.
These kinds of laws have been fought in a number of different courts. A similar law in Florida, its enforcement was blocked by an appeals court in Atlanta last week. Texas, however, the Fifth Circuit and for that law allowed the law to be enforced. And so the Supreme Court's come in and said that that's not right, and they're going to block its enforcement for now, while the courts figure out kind of on the merits, whether these laws are any good or not.
Right now, I don't know that there's a huge impact on users. Certainly, this is, I think, a loss for those conservative voices who feel like these platforms are censoring some of their viewpoints. However, this is really just kind of the beginning of the fight. And there's no question, I think, that this issue is going to come before the Supreme Court on the merits, probably in the next couple of years. And they're going to have to really wrestle with some of these issues.
And the thing is that there's a lot of Supreme Court precedent on First Amendment and all this stuff, sort of big picture speech issues. There's not as much clarity about how that applies to something like Twitter or Facebook. The Supreme Court sort of moves at a different speed than the rest of the world. And for them, I think, they're just kind of catching up to some of the questions and implications of how First Amendment law applies to social media platforms.
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Taylor Wilson:
President Joe Biden said yesterday that his administration would send advanced long-range rocket systems to Ukraine to fight Russian forces. US officials say their counterparts in Ukraine assured the US the weapons would only be used against Russian forces in Ukraine and not on Russian territory. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said yesterday that the Biden administration is concerned about Russian attempts to take control of the Kherson region.
Ned Price:
As we approach the 100th day of Russia's war against Ukraine, we remain concerned about steps Russia's taking to attempt to institutionalize control over sovereign Ukrainian territory, particularly in Ukraine's Kherson region. The Kremlin is probably weighing a few approaches, from recognizing a so-called people's republic, as Russia forcibly did in Donetsk and Luhansk, to an attempted annexation, just as Russia did in Crimea. It's a predictable part of the Russian playbook, which is why we are continuing to sound the alarm now, particularly, following Russian President Putin's unilateral decree that would fast track the issuance of Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens.
Russia's initial objectives of controlling large swaths of Ukraine has been nothing short of a complete failure. The Kremlin probably views that forcibly holding Kherson would provide Russia a land bridge to Crimea, as well as gaining some kind of so-called victory. An attempt to justify to Russia's domestic audiences the thousands of lives Putin's war of choice has destroyed. We will continue to spotlight Russia's territorial designs in Ukraine, as well as its ongoing aggression, just as we hold to account those who facilitated, including with additional punitive economic measures.
Taylor Wilson:
But in a New York Times op-ed this week, President Biden said the US will not try to oust Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins today. Forecasters expect another busy stretch this year with as many as 10 hurricanes. An average season usually has about seven, and peaks in August and September. If predictions hold true, it'll be a record seventh consecutive year of above normal activity, and 14 to 21 named storms overall are expected, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The past two years, the National Hurricane Center ran out of names for Atlantic storms. Meanwhile, a Pacific hurricane, Hurricane Agatha, hit coastal Mexico this week, killing at least 11 people. Another 20 are still missing.
Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us every morning of the year, right here, wherever you're listening right now. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show, and I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Reparations considered in California, more Uvalde funerals: 5 Things podcast
