On the eve of Juneteenth, mayors from across America formed a new coalition of cities working toward reparations for Black Americans.
The Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity (MORE) coalition committed to supporting HR 40, a federal bill that would establish a commission to study the legacy of slavery in the United States and develop proposals for reparations. The coalition members will also form local advisory committees to advise on policy and establish pilot reparation programs in their own cities.
Referencing not only slavery but also Jim Crow laws and redlining, Los Angles Mayor Eric Garcetti opened the press conference by saying restitution is an essential part of redressing past wrongs. In his own city of Los Angeles, the wealth gap between white and Black individuals is 100:1.
Garcetti called the move “long overdue” and “long-awaited.”
“To address racism in America, America has to address racism,” he said.
In addition to Los Angeles, the coalition includes the mayors of Asheville, NC, Austin, Texas, Tullahassee, Okla., Sacramento, Calif., and Denver, Colo. among others.
St. Paul, Minn. Mayor Melvin Carter spoke about how the creation of infrastructure projects in St. Paul contributed to furthering the racial economic divide. The building of a highway that demolished a historically Black neighborhood in the city is estimated to have deprived over $90 million in today’s wealth from the African American community there.
“Just because a law was passed to formally end the institution of slavery in America, the legacy of slavery in America, the legacy of America’s original sin, continues on,” said Carter.
"Black Americans don't need another study that sits on a shelf. We need decisive action to address the racial wealth gap holding communities back across our country," said St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones.
"I'm proud to join MORE to help bring the conversation around reparations out of the nineteenth century and into the twenty-first."
According to Garcetti, the cities will not have enough money to provide reparations on their own. The mayors want a federal program that would provide additional support.
Earlier this month, a new reparations task force met for the first time in California to try to determine how to compensate Black Americans whose relatives were enslaved in this country.
The task force’s goals include educating Californians on the history of slavery, researching ways the state can provide reparations and producing a report to inform policy in the state legislature.