Officials in Asheville, North Carolina voted unanimously Tuesday to provide reparations to their Black residents, according to reporting by The Asheville Citizen-Times.
"Reparations programs are rare across all areas of government," Rashawn Ray, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow sociologist with The Brookings Institution who testified in March in support of Maryland's Harriet Tubman Community Investment Act, told the Ashville Citizen-Times. "Asheville should be applauded for being a trendsetter in this area that should be the norm."
The reparations will not be paid out to individuals but instead will mandate investments be made in areas where Black residents face the most egregious disparities.
The Community Reparations Commission will help increasing minority home-ownership, better access to affordable housing and ownership of businesses, and plans for closing the gaps in education and health care.
"Hundreds of years of black blood spilled that basically fills the cup we drink from today," Councilman Keith Young, one of two Black council members and the measure's chief proponent said. Adding that "It is simply not enough to remove statues. Black people in this country are dealing with issues that are systemic in nature," Young said.
Last year, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced he supports creating a commission to study reparations for the descendants of slaves, telling reporters Tuesday that racism is "the poison of America."
"I will support the legislation by Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee to establish a commission to study the issue of reparations for slavery and discrimination," Schumer said.
Jackson Lee introduced H.R. 40 — named after the Civil War-era promise of 40 acres and a mule as compensation for former slaves — in the House earlier this year. It has significant support in the House, including from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Several presidential candidates in the Senate, including Booker, who sponsored the Senate version of the legislation, have also expressed support.
Georgetown University undergraduates voted in 2019 in favor of a referendum seeking the establishment of a fund benefiting the descendants of enslaved people sold to pay off the school's debts.
The $27.20-per-semester fee would create one of the first reparations funds at a major U.S. institution. In an early Friday statement, university administrator Todd Olson didn't commit to the fund's establishment, but said Thursday's non-binding vote provided "valuable insight into student perspectives."