CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Evanston has become the first U.S. city to approve reparations to its Black residents for the effects of slavery and past discrimination.
On Monday, Evanston's City Council voted 8-to-1 to approve the $400,000 plan, which uses a combination of tax dollars from marijuana sales and donations to provide $25,000 to qualifying Black households for home repairs or down payments on property.
The city has pledged to distribute $10 million over 10 years.
Qualifying residents must either have lived in or been a direct descendant of a Black person who lived in Evanston between 1919 to 1969 and who suffered discrimination in housing, because of city ordinances, policies, or practices.
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Alderman Rue Simmons, who proposed the program that was adopted in 2019, denies the claims of some critics that it was rushed without enough input from the Black community.
"It is a first step. It's a first tangible step. It is alone not enough. It is not full repair alone in this one initiative" Simmons said.
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Alderman Cicely Fleming, who is African-American and voted against the plan, said it denies recipients the chance to decide how the money would best help them, because the funds are provided directly to banks, mortgage lenders, or contractors.
Fleming said this is a “housing program” rather than reparations.
She said the people should dictate the terms of how their grievances are repaired. Fleming described the program as paternalistic, and it assumes Black people can’t manage their own money.
Hundreds of communities and organizations across the country are considering providing reparations to Black people. They range from the state of California to cities like Amherst, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; Asheville, North Carolina; and Iowa City, Iowa; religious denominations like the Episcopal Church; and prominent colleges like Georgetown University in Washington.
The efforts, some of which have been underway for years, have gained momentum in the wake of the death of George Floyd in police custody last May in Minneapolis. President Joe Biden has even expressed support for creating a federal commission to study Black reparations, a proposal that’s languished for decades in Congress.
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