Sacramento, California - Independent presidential candidate Dr. Cornel West has taken to social media to share his thoughts on this weekend's decision to effectively kill two reparations measures in California.

"What we are witnessing in the state of California is the very essence of political cowardliness in regard to the reparations bill which should have been signed by the governor and that now is not just being delayed, primarily by the [California Legislative] Black Caucus, but put off, postponed, with another commission, another investigation," West said in a video address.

"That's the last thing we need. We need action," the White House contender added.

West's statement followed a weekend debacle which saw California Assembly members decline to bring two reparations bills to the floor. The measures – authored in line with recommendations by the California Reparations Task Force – would have created and funded a California American Freedmen Affairs Agency to administer reparative justice initiatives within the state.

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The legislation was on its final step before heading to Gavin Newsom's desk after passing out of the state Senate and making it through the Assembly committee process. Activists on the ground accused the governor of trying to dramatically alter the bills at the last minute, including by authorizing $6 million to California State University to study how best to implement reparations and determine eligibility criteria.

The California Legislative Black Caucus issued a statement saying it would reintroduce the Freedmen's Agency bill in the next session with modifications and would instead focus on advancing its 14-bill priority package for 2024.

"We understand that the legislative process is complex and does not always unfold as initially envisioned. However, we remain committed to our long-term goals and recognize that this is a multi-year effort," the caucus said in a statement.

West condemned the caucus' decision in a scathing rebuke.

"The governor is too obsessed with his presidential ambitions, and the politicians are too preoccupied with finding some position or status on the Democratic Party plantation," he charged.

"That's precisely why our campaign puts reparations at the very center of its concerns about the Black plight and predicament in addition to the elimination of poverty, the elimination of homelessness and unhousedness, a living wage, and on and on and on."

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The Green Party's presidential nominee, Dr. Jill Stein, has also reaffirmed her support for reparations for Black Americans amid the California controversy.

"Hundreds of years of oppression have robbed Black Americans of generational wealth and more. To begin repaying the debt, we need cash reparations now," the physician and activist posted on X.

"And reparations are not the only policy needed to begin to redress what's been stolen from the Black community over 400+ years," she added along with a list of priorities in her platform for Black Liberation. These include addressing racial health disparities, stopping cop cities, investing in HBCUs, and more.

While on the campaign trail in 2020, now President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, both Democrats, endorsed a federal reparations study. They have so far failed to follow through in office.

Since winning the 2024 party nomination, Harris has not specified her position on reparative justice.

This year's Democratic Party Platform expresses support for a federal reparations study, but does not call for executive action to get there.

Activists had flooded the Capitol in Harris' home state of California on Friday and Saturday, urging a vote on the two reparations bills. Many have warned that any lawmakers deemed to be in the way of justice will face electoral consequences come November, no matter what their party affiliation.

"This type of betrayal cannot go unanswered. There must be a political price to pay," the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California said in a statement.

"We are not captured. We do not belong to any party or special interest. We are the living embodiment of our Ancestors who built this state and this country over 400 years and who are owed Reparations. We're coming...No...We're HERE, to get our checks and more."