A California board appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom approved recommendations to pay about $500 billion in reparations to black state residents. The state’s Reparation Task Force outlines specific payments to address slavery and other injustices endured by the Black community. Altogether, every black resident could receive about $1.2 million, and According to the task force, this is only the beginning, not the end of addressing past wrongs. But is this what justice looks like? While America has a dark past with slavery, none of these Black residents were slaves, and none of the other California residents are slave owners, which underscores the shortcoming of reparations: it punishes people for a crime they never committed and rewards people who never experienced harm.