Evanston, Illinois gives $25,000 EACH to 44 black residents in reparations

An Illinois city has announced that it will issue reparations payments to a select number of its black residents. The reparations committee for Evanston, Illinois, announced it will award $25,000 in reparations to 44 of its black residents. The city has previously pledged to award $10 million over 10 years to black residents.

The program was created in 2019 and approved by the city council in 2021 with the intention of providing black residents with cash payments if they lived or descended from black ancestors who lived in the city between 1919 and 1969 and experienced housing discrimination.

City official Cynthia Vargas told the Chicago Tribune that the payments are intended to assist with housing expenses. Tasheik Kerr, assistant to the city manager, stated in a meeting last week that the residents will be contacted directly to be notified that the payment is on its way.

Funding for the program comes from a portion of Evanston’s real estate transfer tax, which has contributed $276,588 so far. The program also gets revenue from the city’s 3 percent tax on cannabis retailers.

Reparations have long been advocated by Democratic lawmakers, who argue that black Americans should receive financial compensation due to historical racial injustices. Last year, a coalition of House Democrats reintroduced a resolution calling for federal reparations for descendants of slaves or those of African descent, which would allocate trillions of dollars nationwide.

“We’re here to say that there’s no more waiting, no more watering down, no more putting justice on layaway,” Representative Summer Lee said at the time.

“For over 400 years, this country has profited off the stolen labor, the stolen land and stolen lives of Black people,” she added. “Black folks are owed more than thoughts and prayers. We’re owed repair, we’re owed restitution, and we’re owed justice."