Key facts
- The federal government is seeking to halt Evanston, Illinois's reparations program for Black residents.
- The Justice Department argues the program violates the Equal Protection Clause by allotting benefits based on race.
- The program, launched in 2021, has distributed over $7 million in $25,000 increments for housing-related uses.
- The program targets Black residents who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969 and suffered housing discrimination.
- Critics argue the program lacks a direct link between recipients and specific harms caused by city policies.
The federal government has intervened in Evanston, Illinois's pioneering reparations program for Black residents, asking a judge to halt the initiative. The U.S. Department of Justice declared the program, launched in 2021, to be "racially discriminatory" and in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The program, the first of its kind in the United States, has allocated $20 million to Black residents who are direct descendants of individuals who experienced race-based housing discrimination in Evanston between 1919 and 1969. To date, over $7 million has been distributed in $25,000 increments, funded by a local tax on legal marijuana sales. These funds are intended for home repairs, down payments on property, or to cover interest and penalties on existing property.
Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, stated that while cities can find ways to remedy past discrimination, "simply handing out money based on race, however, is not the answer." This stance aligns with a broader conservative rejection of race-based reparations and contrasts with a UN resolution urging countries to implement reparations for slavery, which the U.S. rejected.
Critics, including lead attorney Michael Bekesha, argue that the program is flawed because applicants are not required to demonstrate specific harm caused by the city's policies, making race the sole criterion. Bekesha contrasted this with previous reparations programs, such as those for Japanese Americans interned during WWII or victims of police torture in Chicago, which were tied to demonstrable injuries.
However, Robin Rue Simmons, who spearheaded the Evanston program, defended it as a response to specific historical policies like redlining, which she contends harmed Black communities for generations. She views the federal challenge as a "fear tactic" to discourage similar initiatives elsewhere, asserting that Evanston has "set a new precedent" by demonstrating that racial reparations are possible.