While America has yet to address the damage caused by chattel slavery on a widespread scale, there have been several efforts to even the playing field. In states like Oklahoma and California, Black residents are making strides when it comes to reparations. In fact, some folks have already received their checks!
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America didn’t formally apologize for slavery until 2008– the same year former President Barack Obama was elected. The next major step towards justice for the descendants of slavery happened in response to the killing of George Floyd. The events triggered a wave of 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations and real legislation hoping to address the needs of the Black community, including that of reparations.
Now, we’re looking at the ongoing fight for proper payment and which cities are leading the charge to deliver it to their residents.
Maryland
In May, Md. Gov. Wes Moore vetoed a measure to investigate the need for reparations in his state. According to the Democrat, it wasn’t an issue of needing reparations, but instead he urged lawmakers to support Black residents regardless, the Associated Press reported. “Now is the time to focus on the work itself: Narrowing the racial wealth gap, expanding homeownership, uplifting entrepreneurs of color, and closing the foundational disparities that lead to inequality — from food insecurity to education,” Moore wrote in his veto letter.
Fast forward to this month, the Maryland General Assembly moved to create a commission to study reparations for slavery, overriding Moore’s need for approval. “This topic isn’t easy, but, again, without formal study, reparations risk being dismissed as symbolic or unconstitutional, regardless of moral merit,” said Sen. Charles Sydnor, a Democrat.
Decatur, Ga.
The city of Decatur, Ga., established a reparations task force in May. A resolution to address discrimination and the economic impact of slavery was first brought to the city’s attention last year in the Beacon Hill community. Now, the 11-member task force investigates Black property loss while also aiming to make policy recommendations to help Black residents recover from the generational issues of slavery. The task force has three years to produce a final report, Fox 5 News reported.
Tusla, Okla.
In an effort spurred by Tulsa’s first Black mayor Monroe Nichols, the city announced plans to give direct payments to the remaining survivors of the 1921 Tulsa massacre or their descendants, BBC reported. The plan is called Road to Repair. At the time, only two survivors from the racist terrorist attack on the Black Wall Street community were still living. The oldest survivor, Viola Ford Fletcher, died in Tulsa just last month. She was 111.
California
Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom has had a mixed record when it comes to reparations in his state. He signed five laws to advance reparations in October, but then vetoed five others, POLITICO reported. The California Reparations Task Force, which began in 2020, continues to find effective ways to get the governor’s attention.
“With any veto message, we need to go back and see if there’s a different way in which we can approach a solution to the problem,” San Diego Democratic Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson told California Matters. “A veto is never, in my opinion, a ‘no.’ It may be a ‘no, for now.’ It may be just a ‘no’ this year. And it may be a ‘no’ but let’s try something different.”
Detroit
In 2021, voters in Detroit decided to form a city Reparations Task Force. Since then, the coalition has developed a report with many recommendations for proper reparations. Now, it’s up for lawmakers to decide on the appropriate– if any– legislation to address issues concerning housing, education, and economic discrepancies due to slavery.
Chicago
Chicago’s Mayor Brandon Johnson announced his plan to form a reparations task force ahead of the 2024 Juneteenth holiday. He called it “a pledge to shape the future of our city by confronting the legacy of inequity that has plagued Chicago for far too long.” But months slowly passed, and the task force had barely moved forward.
In April, however, Johnson’s office announced more details about the plan, including that applications to join the force were open, WTTW reported. They closed applications in May.
Asheville, N.C.
Asheville’s Community Reparations Commission formed in 2022 after the city passed legislation supporting reparations in 2020, according to its website. But in September, the county’s board of commissioners received a letter from the Trump administration.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) told the North Carolina county to end its pursuit for reparations for its Black residents on the grounds of violating the Civil Rights Act, the Asheville Watch Dog reported. The task force stopped all meetings on June 30, 2024.
Evanston, Ill.
In 2021, Evanston, Ill., became the first U.S. city to pass any reparations law. The law authorized cash payments to the descendants of enslaved people and used funding sourced solely from real estate taxes and cannabis sales. The historic plan faced scrutiny, especially from Republicans against legalizing marijuana and reparations for the Black community.
It’s not even the May lawsuit that’s slowing the city’s reparations program. In fact, Evanston’s Reparations Committee has delivered over $5 million in payments to more than 200 recipients. Low marijuana sales across the city are however threatening the program, according to The Daily Northwestern.
“If anyone thinks that we are on the committee, trying to prevent you from the distribution of funds, I want to deny that,” Carlis Sutton, a Reparations Committee member, said. “We’re doing everything on this committee to implement the program and get each payment today.”
Boston
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu led the charge to form a reparations task force in the city of Boston. In February, Rep. Ayanna Pressley announced she would reintroduce legislation to study the impacts of slavery and suggest reparations, Boston Global reported.
“From Jim Crow, to red lining, to mass incarceration, our government through policies and budgets has perpetuated and entrenched these harms for generations. The disparities that we see in health outcomes, housing, education, wealth, and more are by design,” Pressley said. “It is not only about Black history, but it is about Black futures.”
Tullahassee, Okla.
The tiny but mighty community of Tullahassee, Okla., is made up of about 115 people. Still, they joined the fight to win reparations for the town’s descendants of slavery in 2021. The town’s mayor recently joined Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity– a national reparations effort, NPR reported.
According to The Daily Yonder, Black people were enslaved by local tribes. As generations went on, Tullahassee became a majority Black town– 69 percent to be exact. Tullahassee was also home to Flipper Davis College, a short-lived historically Black college (HBCU). It was founded by the AME Church in 1916 but closed by 1935.
Kansas City, Mo.
In 2023, Mayor Quinton Lucas announced the Mayor’s Commission on Reparations was tasked to “study and make recommendations to the city on reparatory justice for past harm and discriminatory practices against Kansas City’s Black community,” according to the website. Lucas is one of only 11 mayors who pledged to pay reparations in 2021.
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