Making History: Illinois City Becomes the First in America to Pay Reparations to Black Residents

An Illinois city is making history.

As reported by ABC News, Evanston, Illinois has become the first city in the United States to pay reparations to black people in light of past discrimination and the long-term effects of slavery.

On Monday, the City Council voted 8-1 to do it to it.

Prediction: That “1” is gonna take some major heat.

So how’s the payout gonna work? For starters, the city will give 16 black families $25,000 each to be used for home repairs, property down payments, and late penalties or interest on property within city limits.

That’s a total expenditure of $400,000, but Evanston’s pledged to pay 10 million Big Ones over the next ten years.

As noted by ABC, the city’s far from alone in eyeing a jiggling of the scales of justice:

The move by the Illinois community comes as hundreds of communities and organizations across the country are considering providing reparations.

They’re certainly giving it a shot in Oregon.

As I covered earlier this month, House Democrats in The Beaver State are trying to gnaw at inequity via a lifetime payment of $123,000 to eligible recipients.

Yahoo News loved the idea:

America’s racial awakening has brought about a number of positive changes—or at least earnest attempts at bringing change. The spotlight on systemic racism in policing, for example, appears to have lawmakers (mostly Democratic, but still) taking police reform more seriously than ever before. But when it comes to racial injustice and inequality, police brutality is hardly the only issue—structural racism isn’t a single-issue thing—because the fact is Black people’s entire American history is tied to our present state of inequality. That’s why it warms the heart to see lawmakers taking seriously the discussion around reparations.

Also in Oregon, officials are working to even things out in education.

The state’s Department of Education issued a newsletter last month hailing a “Pathway to Math Equity Micro-Course.”

Implementing the “Dismantling Racism” toolkit, the program — per Communications Director Marc Siegel — would help “educators learn key tools for engagement, develop strategies to improve equitable outcomes for Black, Latinx, and multilingual students, and join communities of practice.”

The course pinpointed 14 manifestations of white supremacy:

Perfectionism

Sense of Urgency

Defensiveness

Quantity Over Quality

Worship of the Written Word

Only One Right way

Paternalism

Either/Or Thinking

Power Hoarding

Fear of Open Conflict

Individualism

Progress is Bigger More

Objectivity

Right to Comfort

Illinois is trying to fix things in the classroom, as well.

In February, Naperville District 203 welcomed host Countywide Equity Institute for an “anti-racism” teacher training.

Purportedly, teachers were schooled on manifestations of “covert white supremacy”:

Not believing experiences of [nonwhites]

Police murdering [nonwhites]

Euro-centric Curriculum

Assuming that good intentions are enough

Celebrating Columbus Day

The self-appointed white ally

Also a manifestation: “Make America Great Again.”

Back to Evanston, here’s how ABC describes the qualifiers:

[R]esidents must either have lived in or been a direct descendant of a Black person who lived in Evanston between 1919 to 1969, or that person’s direct descendant, who suffered discrimination in housing because of city ordinances, policies or practices. Also, residents who also experienced discrimination due to the city’s policies or practices after 1969 can qualify.

Alderman Robin Rue Simmons — who proposed the program — said the funds are “set aside for an injured community that happens to be Black, that was injured by the city of Evanston for anti-Black housing policies.”

The resolution reads thusly:

The Restorative Housing Program (“The Program”), the first Program of the Evanston Local Reparations Fund, acknowledges the harm caused to Black/African-American Evanston residents due to discriminatory housing policies and practices and inaction on the City’s part. The Program outlined in this document is a step towards:

Revitalize, preserve, and stabilize Black/African-American owner-occupied homes in Evanston

Increase homeownership and build the wealth of Black/African-American residents

Build intergenerational equity amongst Black/African-American residents

Improve the retention rate of Black/African-American homeowners in the City of Evanston.

$21,340 of the funds comes courtesy of private donations.

Otherwise, the money will emanate from a 3% tax on the sale of recreational marijuana.

Meanwhile — despite supposed learned lessons of the 60’s — we appear to be returning to segregation: