Black Californians should get $350,000 to help shrink the racial wealth gap and right historical wrongs, a landmark California reparations task force has heard.

Max Fennell, a 35-year-old businessman and former professional triathlete, told the committee the money should be given to all black California residents. He argued that black-owned businesses should receive grants of about $250,000 and 15-20 acres of land to help further boost black wealth during the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals' public hearing.

"It's a debt that's owed, we worked for free ... we're not asking; we're telling you," he told the panel, the Daily Mail reported . "The tangibles of what I'm asking for is $350,000 per black American in California — that's tangible, small business grant $250,000, and land 15-20 acres."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill establishing the task force in 2020. Since then, it has spent over a year studying the issue and began public deliberations over how to quantify financially the debt owed to black Americans for historical injustices, such as slavery, housing discrimination, mass incarceration, and more. The panel has until July 1 to complete its report and send recommendations to the state legislature.