THE first US city to introduce restitution for slavery is facing backlash from black residents who blasted the $ 25,000 payment as “false” refunds, claiming it was “of no use” to me.
Evanston, Illinois, voted in March to approve the first slavery reparations scheme for black residents in a $ 400,000 program that is expected to be a blueprint for the rest of the country.
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The reparations plan at Evanston was slammed by black residentsPhoto credit: Getty
However, the program has been criticized for focusing on enabling 16 blacks to receive payments of $ 25,000 that can only be used for housing.
Opponents of the program have found that there are 12,500 black people in the city north of downtown Chicago, many of whom were victims or descendants of victims of discriminatory housing practices.
Black residents of the city used to be subject to redlining, a practice in which banks refused to grant home loans to predominantly black neighborhoods.
It discouraged black communities from owning home, a major source of wealth.
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Evanston would become a blueprint for the rest of the countryImage credit: AFP
However, Evanston’s focus on housing has led the program to be referred to as “a home voucher program, not redress”.
“Calling it that it does more harm than good,” wrote A. Kirsten Mullen and William Darity Jr in an opinion piece for the Washington Post.
They added to NBC that real reparations can only come from the federal government and that local programs “can’t get the bill”.
Black residents also believe the program places too many restrictions on how the money can be spent.
It excludes renters as it only applies to current and future homeowners, explains NBC.
And black residents who receive the money will still not have a down payment on a house in the city, where average prices are currently above $ 400,000.
‘Wouldn’t have been of any use to me or me’
Local residents have also indicated that the funds will eventually go to the banks and real estate companies previously guilty of the discriminatory practices for which the program seeks redress.
“The beneficiaries of this program would be those who originally wreaked havoc on the redlining here in Evanston,” community organizer Sebastian Nalls told NBC.
“The residents of Black Evanston must determine their own repairs.”
“I don’t want to personally benefit from it,” added another black resident, Priscilla Giles.
“I want the city to move in such a way that future generations can benefit from it.”
“I was surprised,” she claims of the program.
“But I can’t say I was any more angry or surprised than when I first heard that reparations should be paid for buying houses, not for something that would benefit the entire black community.
“Because whoever got the money, it didn’t help me or me.”
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Black Americans across the country have called for redressPhoto credit: Getty
The program is also facing potential litigation from the other side as conservative activists attack the city to prevent more widespread reparation plans from being implemented across the country.
“This is a racial group benefit based on weak historical analysis,” said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch.
“It’s an extremist program.”
Black residents have even welcomed the intervention of the conservative groups, saying that the intent behind it is “not a good thing” but it could “give us what we want to do, which is to stop them”.
The reparations payments are part of a $ 10 million plan supported by the city council for the next decade.
To qualify, residents must have lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969, where they were discriminated against in terms of housing.
Residents are also eligible if they are the direct descendants of someone who has suffered from housing discrimination.
The $ 10 million fund was raised from a three percent tax on recreational marijuana sales to tackle housing inequality.
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At the national level, a bill to create a national reparation committee is supported by 170 Democratic members of Congress, but the practical implementation of a program is still open to debate.
President Joe Biden did not approve the bill, but he does support a study examining the establishment of a committee.
The potential committee has been debated by the federal government for decades, but a bill calling for more research was tabled earlier this year for the first time in 32 years only for the House of Representatives Committee on Justice.
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