First US city to pay blacks over housing discrimination
Print Edition
Council members in Evanston city outside Chicago voted on Monday in favor of giving funds to black residents as a form of reparations for housing discrimination 鈥 the first city in the United States to take such action.
The plan, passed with an 8-1 vote, will distribute US$400,000 of a US$10 million fund, generated by marijuana tax revenue, to up to 16 families to use toward housing needs.
For Alderman Robin Rue Simmons, the architect of the Evanston Local Reparations Restorative Housing Program and Program Budget, it was an 鈥渋nitial first step鈥 after years of discussion and input from locals.
鈥淚t is not full repair alone in this one initiative but we all know that the road to repair and justice in the black community is going to be a generation of work. It鈥檚 going to be many programs and initiatives and more funding,鈥 Rue Simmons said.
Under the plan, residents who qualify will receive US$25,000 to use towards home improvements or mortgage assistance.
To qualify, they must have either been or be descended from a black person who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969 who suffered from discriminatory housing practices, including 鈥渞edlining鈥 鈥 unfair refusal of services such as loans 鈥 from government and banks.
Potential national model
The move has been closely followed in the United States, and could become a model for elsewhere in the country as racial injustice has risen up the political and public agenda.
Evanston is a suburban city of 75,000 people which is home to Northwestern University, and which lies just north of Chicago along the shores of Lake Michigan.
The meeting on Monday, which clocked in at more than three hours, had more than 60 people giving public comments, both for and against the plan.
Those opposed asked for more time for public discussion and called it a housing program rather than reparations.
Rue Simmons said that they were ready for any legal challenges, saying that civic action groups and international law firms were 鈥渞eady to provide pro bono legal defense to us in the event that we should have some sort of situation in court.鈥
Evanston Mayor Steve Hagerty, who moderated the meeting, said that he expects families to begin applying for the funds this summer.
Council members said the plan was not a substitute for any future federal reparations for the descendants of slaves.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
