Evanston, Illinois becomes first US city to pay reparations for Black residents

(Carlos Cantero/Unsplash)

By Brian Brant

(EVANSTON, Ill.) Evanston, Illinois became the first U.S. city to approve reparations for Black residents on Monday, agreeing to distribute $10 million for housing and mortgage assistance, according to Axios.

The measure, which passed 8-1, will use the revenue raised from taxes on marijuana to pay for reparations.

Residents who have lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969, their families or those who can prove they have faced housing discrimination would be eligible.

In the city of 73,000 people, 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, members of the City Council said they were looking to take "concrete steps" that "intended to address historical racism and discrimination," according to The New York Times.

Alderman Robin Rue Simmons, who is behind the initiative, told The Times that the action was "a start."

"It is the reckoning," she added. "We're really proud as a city to be leading the nation toward repair and justice."

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