The “Land of Lincoln” officially has a city with approved reparations funds for Black residents, based on slavery and its subsequent impact.
An 8-to-1 vote this week in Evanston, Ill., sealed the deal on tens-of-thousands of dollars for Blacks who can prove either having lived in the city between 1919 and 1969 or lineage with a direct descendant who did.
The Local Reparations Restorative Housing Program “is a step towards revitalizing, preserving, and stabilizing [Black] owner-occupied homes in Evanston, increasing homeownership and building the wealth of [Black] residents, building intergenerational equity amongst [Black] residents, and improving the retention rate of [Black] homeowners in the City of Evanston,” a draft of the council’s resolution reads in part.
Eligible households may receive up to $25,000 for home repairs and down payments, NPR reported Tuesday.
The council’s lone voice of dissent came from Cicely Fleming, a Black alderwoman who said the size and scope of the plan are too narrow to be defined accurately as “reparations.”
“We can talk more about the program details, but I reject the very definition of this as a ’reparations’ program,” she said, according to NPR. “Until the structure and terms are in the hands of the people — we have missed the mark.”
Instead, Ms. Fleming referred to the city’s program as a “dressed up” housing plan.
Illinois was never a slave state — indeed Abraham Lincoln rose to political prominence there — although Evanston acknowledged both the effects of slavery and a history of discrimination since its abolition. The city’s initiative is the first taken under a reparations fund established in 2019.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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