Evanston City Council implements reparations program

Although reparative efforts for the Black community have been discussed in Evanston and cities across the United States for decades, Evanston is now leading the charge in putting discussion into action. If everything goes according to plan, Black residents of Evanston could have $25,000 to pay for housing and other home-related programs.

As an effort to address the effects of racial inequality, slavery and the war on drugs have had on Black residents, the Evanston City Council is instituting multiple reparations programs funded by a tax on marijuana established in 2019. 

In a reparations town hall meeting Aug. 28, 2020, Robin Rue Simmons, alderman of Evanston’s fifth ward and chair of Evanston’s reparations committee, said the current plan for allocations of reparations is through housing benefits. According to Ms. Simmons, Black residents of Evanston will be eligible for up to $25,000 in grants to assist with homeownership, mortgage payments and home improvement funds. The tax can accumulate up to $10 million of funding for reparations allocation. A survey to gauge and prioritize interest in the program closes March 3. 

According to a subcommittee member Kamm Howard, the committee is also considering alternative forms of reparations moving forward.

Mr. Howard defines reparations as, “any initiative specifically formed to address enslavement, Jim Crow or post-Jim Crow harms to the Black community.”

As summarized in a report by Mr. Howard, Evanston community members expressed interest in reparations funds applied to other areas such as direct cash, grants for businesses, a STEM center for the local school, co-ops such as kitchens and workspaces, access to education opportunities, public access to TV, genetic testing for exploration of birthright and connections to Africa, and funding for an art center.

“We know that you cannot do all of these things in year one,” Mr. Howard said in the town hall meeting, “but you can plan in year one to do things in year three, year four, year five, based on this model, based on having this in front of you and based on whatever resources you think are going to come down the pipeline.”

In the town hall meeting, Mr. Howard said for reparations to best serve the community they must meet three key guidelines. They must be determined and approved by the injured party, and address the past harms described in his definition.  

Using this process, Mr. Howard said, “allows for those who are engaged in the process, the legislators, the stakeholders, the community, to prioritize reparative initiatives. It allows for you to focus intensely on the outcomes, whether it’s going to be satisfying, whether it’s going to be, where it’s going to be restitution.” 

While many cities such as Asheville, North Carolina, and Providence, Rhode Island, began their reparations programs as a result of the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter Protests of the summer, Evanston City Council has been working on its current reparations program since June 2019 when marijuana was legalized in Illinois effective Jan. 1, 2020. In November 2020, the reparations subcommittee got approval for the tax on marijuana.