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By Marni Rose McFall
Reporter
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The city of Evanston, Illinois, is set to issue $25,000 to 44 residents through reparations payments, the Evanston Reparations Committee has announced.
Why It Matters
In 2019, Evanston became the first city in America to give publicly funded reparations to Black Americans.
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The first program approved for using the funds, which was focused on giving cash payments for housing support, was passed in May of 2021 by the city.
The program looks to distribute $10 million dollars over a ten-year period.
The City of Evanston states on its website that the planning process began following a resolution from the City Council “affirming the City's commitment to end structural racism and achieve racial equity.”
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What To Know
The Committee announced that it will issue 44 payments to community members on February 5. Those next in line to receive payments, which will be of the amount of $25,000, have the selection numbers 121 through to 171.
The payments are intended to cover housing expenses.
The fund is primarily supported by two taxes: a cannabis sales tax and real estate tax money.
Though the United States has not implemented a widespread slavery reparations program, calls have circulated across the country for them to be introduced, as several states and cities have pushed for proposals and programmes which would benefit the descendants of slaves, and Black Americans at large.
Advocates of reparations have called for the government to consider them in an effort to address the country’s legacy of both slavery and racial discrimination.
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Some cities have established task forces in order to consider how reparations may be paid.
The Reparations Advisory Committee produced a report in 2023 which outlined multiple different kinds of reparations.
That report pointed to reparations such as supplementing the income of lower income African American households, providing access to financial education and the financing of a debt forgiveness program, in addition to the lump sum payment.
These programs and proposals come at a sensitive moment, as President Donald Trump has been dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the federal government.
Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against Evanston’s reparations program last year, over its usage of race as an eligibility requirement for the program, alleging that it was in violation of the 14th Amendment.
What People Are Saying
Krissie Harris, an Evanston Council member, told The Daily Northwestern: “It’s really important for people to understand we pay as we have the money, and it’s not that we’re withholding from paying everyone. It’s just we have to accumulate the funds to make sure we can pay.”
What Happens Next
Notification letters are set to be sent out in the next two weeks. Residents are encouraged to have their paperwork ready.
Meetings for the committee are set for March and April this year, and could yield further information about payments.
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