The Reparations Committee in Evanston, Illinois has announced that 44 residents will soon receive $25,000 payments as part of Evanston’s local reparations program, Fox News reports. The initiative, launched in 2019 and approved by the City Council in 2021, provides direct cash assistance to black residents and their descendants who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969.
Evanston became the first city in the United States to pass a reparations plan, pledging $10 million over ten years to address historical inequities faced by black residents. City official Cynthia Vargas told the Chicago Tribune that the money is primarily meant to help with housing costs. According to Tasheik Kerr, assistant to the city manager, payment notifications will go out soon, and recipients should receive funds within the next several weeks.
A recent city report shows that the reparations fund currently holds $276,588, collected through Evanston’s real estate transfer tax. The committee has also discussed adding a tax on Delta-8 THC products to help support the program moving forward.
Alderman Krissie Harris noted that while the proposed tax would not generate a large amount of revenue, it would still help sustain the effort. She emphasized, as reported by The Daily Northwestern, that payments depend on available funds: “It’s really important for people to understand we pay as we have the money, and it’s not that we’re withholding from paying everyone,” Harris said. “It’s just we have to accumulate the funds to make sure we can pay.”
Last year, the watchdog group Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit challenging Evanston’s reparations program, arguing that limiting eligibility to black residents violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. “To date, Evanston has distributed more than $6.35 million to 254 individuals based on their race,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, calling the policy discriminatory and unconstitutional.
Across the nation, momentum for reparations programs is growing as activists and lawmakers in several states push for similar studies and plans.