Reparations becoming local issue across U.S.
Detroit, like many other cities across the nation, is studying how best to atone for its racist past, part of a movement that has centered on the toll from slavery but has expanded to more local offenses.
In November, Detroit residents will be asked if they support the formation of a reparations committee that will research “housing and economic development programs” for its Black residents.
“It’s more than just talk for the first time,” said Mary Sheffield, the councilwoman who spearheaded the measure.
If Detroit forms the committee, it will join a small but growing number of local and state governments considering or introducing reparations programs across the country. In March, Evanston, Ill., a Chicago suburb, began distributing $10 million in reparations in the form of housing grants to its Black residents. In June, California became the first state to develop a reparations task force.
That same month, another 11 American mayors committed to introducing reparations pilot programs for Black Americans in their respective cities, from major hubs like Los Angeles to the tiny all-Black town of Tullahassee, Okla.
The coalition, known as Mayors Organizing for Reparations and Equality, plans to “double or even triple” its number of cities by the end of this year, according to its founder, Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles.
While the fervor surrounding reparations may feel brand-new, the movement behind it is anything but. Beginning in 1989, John Conyers Jr., a Democratic representative from Detroit, regularly reintroduced the same legislation proposing to form a federal reparations committee, HR 40, until his retirement in 2017. Congress heard the bill for the first time two years later, in 2019, the same year Conyers died.
Although the bill failed, the 2020 presidential election brought it back to life as a major campaign issue to engage young progressive voters. Following a peak in Black Lives Matter protests last summer, the national dialogue around race further reignited support of the reparations movement. In April, a House committee passed HR 40 for the first time, and it is now headed to the floor.
But the bill still has a long journey before legislators could approve it. If they eventually do, it is unclear how long it would take before a hypothetical commission could come up with recommendations and begin distributing aid.
Mayor Jorge Elzora of Providence, R.I., said a reparations program could address the underrepresentation of Black residents within “all the halls of power” in the city, including schools, businesses and elected positions.
“As a country, we have never addressed race issues directly, and look at where it has gotten us,” he said.