Row over $5m slavery payout to EVERY black person in San Francisco

BLACK people in San Francisco could each receive around $5million (£4million) in compensation under a controversial plan to acknowledge the legacy of slavery.

Eligible residents of the Californian city could be given the payout in recognition of ‘decades of socioeconomic disparity going all the way back to the days of slavery’.

To qualify, applicants need to have been identified as black on public records for at least a decade and to be at least 18 years old.

They also must meet two out of a number of requirements, such as having been born in the US city.

The scheme, which is expected to be signed off by the city council in June, is likely to cost San Francisco more than £40billion. The authority has not explained how it expects to find the money.

California was never a slave state but it has been argued that black people suffered discrimination in the West Coast state due to local laws. Hundreds of residents have now formed queues at municipal buildings to see if they’re eligible for the official compensation.

One Harvard professor, who asked not to be named, told the Mail on Sunday: ‘No one argues that there has not been a grim history in this country. But, sadly, the reparations debate symbolises the ridiculousness of the culture wars. It isn’t healing racial division – it’s promoting it.’