EVANSTON, Ill. – Evanston, Illinois, is making history. The city is the first in the U.S. to pay reparations to Black residents.
The city council voted 8-1 to pay out a total of $400,000 to Black households. Residents who qualify will get $25,000 either to do repairs to homes or use as a down payment on a property, The Associated Press reported.
The funding is coming from a 3% tax on recreational marijuana sales which will fund about $10 million over a decade.
Residents have to have been a direct descendant of a Black person from Evanston from 1919 to 1969 or are Black and have lived in the city during the same time period and have been discriminated against in housing because of city ordinances, policies or practices, the AP reported.
The one city leader who voted against the plan said she thinks that people who get reparations should say how they can use it.
Evanston is not the only community looking at instituting reparation programs. Amherst, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; Asheville, North Carolina and even the state of California are looking to provide reparation to Black communities, the AP reported.
