1 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: One of the first Americans to lead a movement for 2 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: slave reparations was a woman named Callie House. She was 3 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: born into slavery, freed after the Civil War, married at two, 4 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: and widowed in her thirties. By the late eighteen nineties, 5 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: she was raising five children and working as a seamstress. 6 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:26,759 Speaker 1: She was also helping to start an association for former 7 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: slaves that did things like pay for medical care her burials. Importantly, 8 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:38,080 Speaker 1: it also demanded pensions from the federal government as compensation 9 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: for slavery. Callie traveled all over the South recruiting for 10 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: the association. Eventually she signed up some three thousand dues 11 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 1: paying members, and she sent petitions to Washington asking for reparations. 12 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: She also encouraged her members to do the same. They 13 00:00:57,640 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: proposed a system modeled on money that had been award 14 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: it to disabled Civil War soldiers. All ex slaves would 15 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: get a monthly pension starting at about four dollars a month. 16 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: That's around a hundred twenty five dollars in today's money. 17 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:17,839 Speaker 1: Had it Washington respond the Post Office issued a fraud 18 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: order against Callie and members of the association. They said 19 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,559 Speaker 1: she was using the mail to encourage people to ask 20 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 1: her something they'd never get. When Kelly got the letter 21 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: forbidding her from using the postal service for her campaign, 22 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: she was shocked. Then she got mad. The historian Mary 23 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: Francis Barry tells the story in a book called My 24 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: Face Is Black Is True Callie House and a Struggle 25 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: for ex slave reparations. Here she reads Callie's scathing reply 26 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: to the Post Office, and she said the Association acted 27 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: on behalf of quote four and a half million slaves 28 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: who would turn loose, ignorant, barefooted and naked, without a 29 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 1: dollar in their pockets, without a shelter to go under 30 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:10,079 Speaker 1: out of the falling rain, but was forced to look 31 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: the man in the face was something to eat. Who 32 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: once had the power to whip them to death, but 33 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 1: now I have the power to stop them the death. 34 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,079 Speaker 1: We the actually feel that if the government had a 35 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: right to free us, she had a right to make 36 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: some provision for us. As she did not make it 37 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: soon after our emancipation, she ought to make it now unquote. 38 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: For the next fifteen years, calling the Association continued to 39 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: petition the government. For its part, the Post Office kept 40 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:46,639 Speaker 1: marking their mail fraudulent. He either returned it to senders 41 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 1: or destroyed it. In nineteen sixteen, Kelly was arrested and 42 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: then indicted on charges of mail fraud and all White 43 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: jury found her guilty and she went to prison for 44 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: one year. And when got out of prison, she kept 45 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: the movement up and then she got sick and she 46 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: eventually passed away without adequate medical treatment. At that time, 47 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: the idea of reparations was so preposterous and threatening to 48 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: the power structure in Washington, it labeled the entire effort fraudulent. 49 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: But the idea of reparations never went away. A hundred 50 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: years later, we're still debating what, when, and how to 51 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:33,239 Speaker 1: talk about it. On the campaign trail, when asked about reparations, 52 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: Joe Biden said he was willing to consider what the U. 53 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: S Might owe African Americans. Reparations means making up for 54 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: things that happened in the past. Number One, there is 55 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: a study being suggested by a former presidential candidate and 56 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: the guy as a friend of mine from New Jersey 57 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: saying we should study reparations and make a judgment whether 58 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: or not what they should be, what they should do. 59 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: There's certain things we already know. I support that study. 60 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: Let's see ritatious. It was an unusually blunt statement for 61 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: an American presidential candidate to make about reparations. But in 62 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: some parts of the US politicians and policymakers are moving 63 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: from words to action. There there are a couple of things, 64 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: in a couple of ways to look at the whole 65 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: question of reparations. How exactly are you going to repay 66 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 1: the debt of slavery? And who is going to repay? Slavery? 67 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: Is the original sin? Slavery has never received an apology. 68 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,800 Speaker 1: Primes have been committed, sins have been committed. There is 69 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: a blood debt. I don't think reparations for something that 70 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 1: happened a hundred fifty years ago, for whom none of 71 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: us currently of them are responsible. There's a good idea 72 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 1: or think brillion dollars in reparation is an appropriate statement. 73 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,479 Speaker 1: It's not real reparations unless you give the descendence of 74 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: slavery actual money and let them choose how they want 75 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: to spend it as if they were adults. Welcome back 76 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: to the paycheck. I'm Jackie Simmons and I'm Rebecca Greenfield. 77 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:38,159 Speaker 1: We've gone through the stats about the racial wealth gap, 78 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: and as we start to talk about reparations. What's important 79 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: to remember is that life in America has improved for 80 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: black people, but no wonder how much better it gets. 81 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 1: The gap has never closed. Not only that, but roundabout 82 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: efforts to close it, like creating more equal opportunities for 83 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: black families to build health and pass it on to 84 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: their children, haven't done enough. Either. Reparations suggest a bigger, 85 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: more direct kind of action, an admission of wrongdoing, for one, 86 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: that the US harmed its black citizens, and then money 87 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 1: redress in one form or another at a scale that's 88 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: commensurate with the harm done. Historically, as a country, we've 89 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: been reluctant to consider any of this. Thirty years ago, 90 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: John Conyers Jr. A Congressman from Michigan, introduced Legislation HR 91 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:37,600 Speaker 1: forty to establish a commission to study and develop reparations proposals. 92 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: It didn't ask for reparations, It asked for commission to 93 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: study the issue. That went nowhere in Conyers introduced it 94 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:51,239 Speaker 1: in the next Congress, and the next, and in every 95 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 1: session for more than two decades. After he resigned, Sheila 96 00:06:55,800 --> 00:07:03,920 Speaker 1: Jackson Lee, a black congresswoman from Texas, took up the chart. 97 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:07,480 Speaker 1: Tanahasy Coats published a sixteen thousand word article in The 98 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: Atlantic magazine called the Case for Reparations. The cover of 99 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: the issue was black with white text that read two 100 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: fifty years of slavery, ninety years of Jim Crow, sixty 101 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: years of separate but equal thirty five years of state 102 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: sanction d readlining. Until we reckon with the compounding moral 103 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 1: debts of our ancestors, America will never be whole coats. 104 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: This article became the argument for reparations. Ron Daniels is 105 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: a leader of the National African American Reparations Commission, an 106 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: independent group that's fighting for reparations. He says, the piece 107 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: restarted the public dialogue, and now the idea is getting 108 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: more attention than it ever has, so you really have 109 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: had a almost seismic shift and support of reparations. This 110 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: is a monum mental moment in the history of these 111 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: United States of America. As we were finishing this episode, 112 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: House Committee was debating HR forty, and for the first time, 113 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: legislators were considering bringing the discussion to the full House. 114 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: Maybe this time it will pass, and that commission will 115 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: study how reparations could work and most importantly, how much 116 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: they would cost. Maybe after some time, we'll have some answers. 117 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: In the meantime, academics have been coming up with answers 118 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: of their own, trying to calculate just how much is owed. 119 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: Susan Burfield, a reporter at Bloomberg, is going to help 120 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:48,680 Speaker 1: us break down the map. So First, advocates argue that 121 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,960 Speaker 1: reparations must ultimately be paid by the federal government. It's 122 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: the government that's responsible for the laws that kept African 123 00:08:56,160 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: Americans enslaved. It's the government that allowed and perpetuated discrimination 124 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: that benefited white Americans. Afterward, it's the government that can 125 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: afford to pay the debt in full when it comes 126 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: to the amount that's due. Most believed that reparations should 127 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: at least close the racial wealth gap. That's the minimum, 128 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: and there's different ways to get there. Sandy Darity and 129 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:23,079 Speaker 1: Kirsten Mullen, who co wrote a book about reparations, begin 130 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: with the loss of land promised after emancipation, that forty 131 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: acres and the mule. They end up with about twelve 132 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: trillion dollars. One of their colleagues, Thomas Kramer, starts with 133 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: another loss, the unpaid wages African Americans could have earned 134 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: for their forced labor from American independence to the start 135 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: of the Civil War. Kramer's German. His family was close 136 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:51,959 Speaker 1: to a Holocaust survivor who received reparations from the government 137 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: for Nazi atrocities. He says the money is important, of course, 138 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: but it's much more than that. It's the moral reckoning. 139 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: Mount paid is basically a symbolic gesture that the apology 140 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 1: is meant seriously, and that that the perpetrating side makes 141 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: a promise never to repeat what was done. Now he's 142 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 1: an associate professor at the University of Connecticut looking at 143 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:21,960 Speaker 1: reparations in America and what they would mean. He's done 144 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 1: some calculations the number of enslaved people times all the 145 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:29,959 Speaker 1: hours they could have worked each year, times the wages 146 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:33,240 Speaker 1: they should have been paid. Then he took those lump 147 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: sums and applied to three interest rate to figure out 148 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: how much those earnings would have grown from seventeen seventy 149 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: six to today. He estimates that the descendants of the 150 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: enslaved are owed about twenty trillion dollars. It's an astounding amount. 151 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: It's nearly as much as the United States gross domestic 152 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:57,200 Speaker 1: product last year. Kramer also says it's on the low 153 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 1: end because I'm ignoring colonial slavery, and in this calculation, 154 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:06,960 Speaker 1: I'm also ignoring racial discrimination after slavery, and both of 155 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:12,520 Speaker 1: those injustices, of course, had impact on the ability to 156 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: accumulate wealth among black families. So this is a very 157 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 1: conservative calculation. He says he wanted to figure the least 158 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:24,440 Speaker 1: amount of money that could be considered fair. Assuming that 159 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: they're about forty two million descendants of slavery in the 160 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 1: US today and accounting for taxes already paid, Kramer says 161 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: each is due four hundred and twenty six thousand dollars. 162 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:40,559 Speaker 1: Derrity and mullan slightly lower number. That twelve trillion would 163 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: work out to about three hundred thousand dollars per person, 164 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:46,960 Speaker 1: give or take whatever the amount. The money could be 165 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: repaid through a national trust, community development programs, free college, 166 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: no interest loans, baby bonds, a guaranteed income, or cash. 167 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: No one is handing out checks anytime soon, but it's 168 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:08,280 Speaker 1: an intriguing idea for most people. Three dollars isn't never 169 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:12,440 Speaker 1: work again money, but it would be life changing. We 170 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: asked you to tell us what that kind of money 171 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:19,600 Speaker 1: might change. What would I do if I were given 172 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:24,000 Speaker 1: three hundred thousand dollars UM a lot. I think securing 173 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: a house, being able to pay the mortgage for a 174 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: while receiving reparations would give me the peace of mind 175 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:32,640 Speaker 1: to do things like starting a family and making a 176 00:12:32,679 --> 00:12:35,200 Speaker 1: career change. The first thing I would probably do is 177 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 1: to pay off any outstanding debt UM. I would pay 178 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:40,880 Speaker 1: off the house I bought a year ago, things that 179 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 1: my peers who have the safety net of generational wealth 180 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:46,840 Speaker 1: behind them can do right now. After paying off my 181 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: student moment it, I would be able to actually afford 182 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:53,080 Speaker 1: a home for my family. It would be actually very helpful, 183 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: as my other African American co founders of a startuple 184 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: working on have been in fund rate mode for quite 185 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 1: a while. I would allocate a hundred thousands of that 186 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: towards return any and all that I may have invest 187 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 1: in UM retirement fund and low costs UM index funds 188 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: actually get into the stock market low fee uh Crypto 189 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 1: used remaining one hundred thousand to allocate towards any business 190 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 1: or entrepreneur aspirations for one on all of my three children, 191 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 1: so as to continue the generational support and the a 192 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: forward movement of moneys through African Americans generations and through 193 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:45,679 Speaker 1: our family. If I could find a multifamily home, maybe 194 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 1: a triplex or a duplex, with three hundred thousand, that 195 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: would be the thing that would provide me with some 196 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: some legacy for my children. So what would you do 197 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 1: with three hundred thousand dollars? Precisely the things that build wealth, 198 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:05,960 Speaker 1: that fulfilled promise, and in just the way is long 199 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 1: denied to African Americans. That brings us back to the 200 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: other question, where would the US get that kind of money? 201 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 1: Kramer says that when the Haitian and British governments paid 202 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: reparations to slave owners, they borrowed the money, lots of 203 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 1: it over many decades. Ron Daniels points to a moment 204 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,640 Speaker 1: where the US government had no trouble conjuring up a 205 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: couple of trillion dollars in a matter of months. The 206 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: COVID pandemic has also shown us something else. They're quite frankly, 207 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: there is no limit to the amount of money that 208 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 1: the federal government can spend. Woof is trillionaire to trillionaire. 209 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: So money is not the object. The thing is. For 210 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: a lot of people, money is exactly the problem. It's 211 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: one reason full reparations are probably a long ways off, 212 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:02,040 Speaker 1: but for now, cities across the US and the state 213 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:04,960 Speaker 1: of California are beginning to study whether there's a case 214 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 1: for local reparations and what that might look like. One 215 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,920 Speaker 1: city has been working on this for the past few years. 216 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 1: It's asked the hard questions and answered them. Soon it 217 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: will begin paying what it's calling reparations to some of 218 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 1: its black residents. Evanston, Illinois, just north of Chicago, with 219 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 1: some seventy five thousand people living in eight square miles, 220 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 1: calls itself progressive. About six of the city's residents are black. 221 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: Some of their families have lived there for more than 222 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 1: a hundred years. There's also a legacy of housing discrimination. Evanston, 223 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: like almost every American city, made it difficult for black 224 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: people to buy their own homes and to keep the 225 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 1: homes they could buy. It deprived them of potential wealth, 226 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: of generational wealth. And it's that injustice, not slavery, that 227 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 1: Evanston is first attempting to repair. We were lifting up 228 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:12,080 Speaker 1: the name of the black community and making affirmations and 229 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:16,480 Speaker 1: commitments and ceremonial resolutions and proclamations. We were doing that 230 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 1: very very well. Um in Evanston, and yet we still 231 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 1: maintained a ratio divide. Robin Ruce Simmons was born and 232 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,640 Speaker 1: raised in Evanston, fourth generation. She's been a real estate 233 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: broker and a bookstore owner. She started a construction firm. 234 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: She owns and manages affordable housing and commercial property in Evanston. 235 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 1: She was also representing the city's fifth ward on the council, 236 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: one of nine aldermen as they're called, and she's the 237 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 1: one who first proposed that Evanston consider reparations. She says 238 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 1: that there's an average household income difference of forty six 239 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: thousand dollars between black and white Evanston, a thirteen year 240 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 1: difference in life expectancy, education gaps and opportunity gaps, and 241 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:08,120 Speaker 1: information divides. In February twenty nineteen, Robin was about midway 242 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:10,600 Speaker 1: through her first term on the city Council when she 243 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:15,159 Speaker 1: wrote an email to Evanston's Equity and Empowerment Commission. The 244 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:20,320 Speaker 1: subject line read Black Equality Policy. You opened it and 245 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:24,119 Speaker 1: it said because reparations makes people uncomfortable. She thanked them 246 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: again for their efforts, but said it was time to 247 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,360 Speaker 1: do more. I realized that not one policy or one 248 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:34,119 Speaker 1: proclamation can repair the damage done to black families. But 249 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,680 Speaker 1: in this four hundredth year of African American resilience, I'd 250 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: like to pursue policy and actions as radical as a 251 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:45,040 Speaker 1: racial policies and actions that got us to this point. Later, 252 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: she would be more explicit that she believed reparations were 253 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:51,720 Speaker 1: the only way to address the harm in the black 254 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: community in Evanston and beyond. Yes, it is reparations. Let's 255 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 1: not call it anything else to make you feel better 256 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:03,320 Speaker 1: about your role in it or our inability to address 257 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:09,720 Speaker 1: it before. Now, let's call it what it is. Segregation 258 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: began in Evanston in the years before World War One, 259 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:17,840 Speaker 1: as black Southerners migrated north. By nine eighteen, a local 260 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,680 Speaker 1: paper reported on a plan to quote unquote freeze out 261 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: black residents from all parts of Evanston except for the 262 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:30,119 Speaker 1: fifth ward. The city began by targeting black residents in 263 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:34,720 Speaker 1: other parts of town. The housing codes could change to say, 264 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:39,720 Speaker 1: require indoor plumbing or electricity or other home improvements. A 265 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:43,119 Speaker 1: black family might not have the cash for that, and 266 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:45,120 Speaker 1: then wouldn't be able to get a loan to pay 267 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 1: for it either. Then they'd be forced to sell, sometimes 268 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:53,120 Speaker 1: for less than what their home was worth. Afterward, real 269 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:58,160 Speaker 1: estate agents would steer them to the fifth ward. Banks 270 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 1: if they gave mortgages, would do so only for homes 271 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:05,680 Speaker 1: in the fifth ward. Redlining officially began in the nineteen thirties, 272 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:09,879 Speaker 1: so did a long period of under investment by the city, 273 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:16,000 Speaker 1: predatory loans and contract buying. That's when black residents who 274 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:18,520 Speaker 1: couldn't get a mortgage had to put down a lot 275 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:22,280 Speaker 1: of money for a house, then pay monthly installments at 276 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: high interest rates. But they didn't get the title until 277 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 1: the house was completely paid for. They never got equity, 278 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 1: and they could be evicted any time they missed a payment. 279 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:39,359 Speaker 1: Morris Robinson Jr. Is the founder of Evanston's Shorefront Legacy Center. 280 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,880 Speaker 1: His hundreds of documents showing how all this unfolded, including 281 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:48,359 Speaker 1: a report written in nineteen forty by the Homeowners Loan Corporation, 282 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 1: a government agency. That agency was created to insure loans, 283 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:57,400 Speaker 1: which allowed more people to purchase homes and eventually would 284 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: help develop the suburbs. It was a great deal if 285 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:05,119 Speaker 1: you were white. It was in fact explicitly intended to 286 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 1: maintain segregated neighborhoods. He read to me. The agency's evaluation 287 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:13,919 Speaker 1: of Black Evanson. Here lives the servants for many of 288 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,119 Speaker 1: the families. All along the north Shore. There's not a 289 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 1: vacant house in a territory, and occupancy moreover is about 290 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:26,480 Speaker 1: one for most houses have more than one family living 291 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: in them. This concentration on Negroes and Evanson is quite 292 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:33,119 Speaker 1: a serious problem for the town, as they seem to 293 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: be growing steadily and encroaching into adjoining neighborhoods. When Robin 294 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:41,360 Speaker 1: brought up the idea of reparations in twenty nine, one 295 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 1: of the first things the Equity Commission agreed to was 296 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: to host community meetings to ask what residents wanted from 297 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 1: a reparations program. Out of dozens and dozens and sences 298 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 1: of recommendations, housing continue to be an area of concern 299 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:00,679 Speaker 1: and a recommendation of repair. That focus was key for 300 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: Robin and her colleagues. They knew more or less what 301 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:07,840 Speaker 1: they were paying reparations for, at least initially. Now they 302 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,880 Speaker 1: needed the money to pay for it. This is where 303 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 1: the broad conversation about reparations comes up hard against reality. 304 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 1: Where is the money going to come from? In this respect, 305 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: Evanston got a little lucky. It was exactly at the 306 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 1: time where we started doing a doal cannabis. Anne Rainey 307 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,240 Speaker 1: was representing the eighth ward, the one closest to Chicago. 308 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,360 Speaker 1: She pointed out the years of prohibition had a disproportionate 309 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: impact on black people. That is why the adult cannabis 310 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:45,919 Speaker 1: legislation was passed to begin with, to make reparations in 311 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:48,439 Speaker 1: that area. So that's where we're going to take the 312 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: money to support this program. It was a tax, first 313 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:54,520 Speaker 1: of all, we had never realized before, so we weren't 314 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,200 Speaker 1: going to be taking it from anything. The city council 315 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 1: estimated that the three percent sales tax on legal would 316 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: bring in about a million dollars a year. They'd set 317 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:07,159 Speaker 1: aside the first ten million, so ten million dollars for 318 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: reparations over ten years, not all for housing. How should 319 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 1: the city use all that money? What other harm did 320 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:18,720 Speaker 1: the community suffer? What other depths did Evanston Oh, that 321 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:22,440 Speaker 1: first resolution didn't say they'd work out the details later. 322 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 1: The loose terms bothered one alderman, Thomas suffered in and 323 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: in November he was the only person to vote no. 324 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:37,640 Speaker 1: Alright Resolution nineteen establishing a City of Evanson funding source 325 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:45,240 Speaker 1: about electoral local reparations passes on a eight to one vote. Congratulations, 326 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,200 Speaker 1: all right for all the hard work to get there. 327 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,479 Speaker 1: There'd be lots more to come, maybe more than anyone 328 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:55,240 Speaker 1: on the council realized. But right then I remember just 329 00:22:55,880 --> 00:23:00,800 Speaker 1: wanting to jump and scream and celebrate, and it was 330 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,720 Speaker 1: business as usual. We went on with the agenda and 331 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 1: I sitting looking like, okay, we're just We're just gonna 332 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:11,440 Speaker 1: keep one. About two weeks later, actor and activist Danny 333 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,359 Speaker 1: Glover came to Evanston and spoke in front of a 334 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:19,200 Speaker 1: very big, very excited crowd. Here's Glover, and then you'll 335 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: hear Michael Neighbors, a pastor and president of the local 336 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,440 Speaker 1: and double a CP. It's the beginning of a process. 337 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 1: This is the most a tense conversation I believe that 338 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:34,520 Speaker 1: we're going to have in the century right reparation. It 339 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 1: was one of the most electrifying moments that I can 340 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:41,400 Speaker 1: ever remember having. And I've had a few of them. 341 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,240 Speaker 1: I've been around, you know, I've had I've had a 342 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:48,880 Speaker 1: few electrifying moments, but this one was electrifying in the 343 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:53,520 Speaker 1: local sense. It was electrifying for the city of Evanston, 344 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 1: and it was particularly electrifying for the black community, and 345 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:02,760 Speaker 1: then was back to work on all those details. When 346 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:08,160 Speaker 1: Evanson's only dispensary began selling recreational pot on January, there 347 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:11,679 Speaker 1: was a line down the street during the pandemic. The 348 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:15,880 Speaker 1: state deemed the dispensary's essential businesses, but the city wasn't 349 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:20,040 Speaker 1: allowed to collect taxes until July. The council decided to 350 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: start its reparations program with four hundred thousand dollars. This 351 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: is where the policy's ambitions collided with its particulars. Probably inevitably, 352 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:33,639 Speaker 1: people might agree that damage has been done. They might 353 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 1: agree that restitution should be made, But to whom and 354 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 1: for how much? And who first? Even in a relatively 355 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:46,160 Speaker 1: small progressive town like Evanston, the answers to those questions 356 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:53,160 Speaker 1: were neither clear nor simple. First, who's eligible? The city 357 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,879 Speaker 1: council had a mandate to initially focus on housing, so 358 00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:00,840 Speaker 1: it settled on grants to help qualified black resident buy homes, 359 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: fix up their homes, or stay in their homes all 360 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:08,840 Speaker 1: black residents. Well. The priority is any black resident of 361 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:13,280 Speaker 1: Evanston from nineteen nineteen to nineteen sixty nine, then any 362 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,879 Speaker 1: of their direct descendants, and then anyone who moved to 363 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:20,040 Speaker 1: the city after that and can show that they've faced discrimination. 364 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:25,439 Speaker 1: And the big question how much the council decided on 365 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 1: grants of twenty five thousand dollars not a lot of 366 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,399 Speaker 1: money in Evanston, where the average home sells for twelve 367 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:35,840 Speaker 1: times that, and no matter what, most black residents won't 368 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,560 Speaker 1: get anything in this first round. That four hundred thousand 369 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:44,720 Speaker 1: dollars covers awards for sixteen people to start with. That's 370 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 1: a tough number. Another reality check, there's other restrictions. The 371 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,680 Speaker 1: residents won't get the cash directly that might require them 372 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:56,439 Speaker 1: to pay taxes on it. Instead, the money will go 373 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:00,479 Speaker 1: to the financial institution, closing agent, or contractor the resident 374 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:04,160 Speaker 1: is working with. Robin says she and her colleagues want 375 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 1: residents to be able to work with local black owned 376 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: businesses and banks that have a history of fair lending. 377 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,720 Speaker 1: The fifth word, she points out, doesn't have a bank, 378 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,600 Speaker 1: has never had a bank, and Black people have every 379 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:20,240 Speaker 1: reason to be skeptical of a financial system that's taken 380 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,679 Speaker 1: every advantage of them for centuries. If we do not 381 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,639 Speaker 1: give them an introduction to a bank that has fair 382 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:32,600 Speaker 1: banking products and other sort of consumer products, then we 383 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 1: have not accomplished anything. And and furthermore, if we introduce 384 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:40,080 Speaker 1: them to a bank that has high fees and rates 385 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:43,280 Speaker 1: and it is expensive to bank with them, then we 386 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:46,480 Speaker 1: have not accomplished anything. In late March, the council took 387 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,439 Speaker 1: a second crucial vote, this time on whether or not 388 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:53,280 Speaker 1: to begin distributing the first allotment that four hundred thousand dollars. 389 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:57,399 Speaker 1: Just a few weeks before, a group emerged on Facebook. 390 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:03,160 Speaker 1: It's called Evanston rejects Racist Reparations. Up until then, there 391 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: have been some questions, some concerns about the program, but 392 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:10,600 Speaker 1: no organized opposition. The founders of the group are black 393 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:14,240 Speaker 1: residents of Evanston. They wanted the council to delay the 394 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,439 Speaker 1: start of the program. They say it's too small, that 395 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:21,119 Speaker 1: it shouldn't focus only in housing, It shouldn't require recipients 396 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:24,240 Speaker 1: to work with banks and other financial institutions that have 397 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:28,960 Speaker 1: discriminated against the black community. It shouldn't even be called reparations. 398 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 1: There are some admirable efforts made by municipalities to its 399 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:38,120 Speaker 1: tones of the damage is caused by their own race 400 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: based policies. However, it is unfortunate when those acts of 401 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:46,320 Speaker 1: atonement are confused with reparations. A limitation of the proposal 402 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:49,240 Speaker 1: that's brought forward is that the funds are constrained to 403 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:53,560 Speaker 1: home ownership. Home Ownership is only part of the deficit 404 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:57,199 Speaker 1: and assets held by Black Americans. And I want you 405 00:27:57,240 --> 00:27:59,520 Speaker 1: to think about this. If any of your family members 406 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,760 Speaker 1: there how was burned down, they were killed, car was crashed, 407 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:05,600 Speaker 1: and then someone walks up and says, here's twenty cent 408 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:09,840 Speaker 1: as a good start, and I promised to do better 409 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 1: later to give you back what you lost. That's what 410 00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: that looks like, it feels like to us. That was 411 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:22,440 Speaker 1: the author's Kirsten Mullen and Sandy Drty and Malika Gardner, 412 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,879 Speaker 1: the founder of Evanston Live TV. Speaking at that city 413 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 1: council meeting, lots of others said they were proud of 414 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,919 Speaker 1: their city, that the program was a good start and 415 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,800 Speaker 1: one that was a long time coming. Cecily Fleming, one 416 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: of the council's three black members, had already announced her decision. 417 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: She'd opposed moving forward with what's now called the Evanston 418 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:49,880 Speaker 1: Local Reparations Restorative Housing Program. I think reparations is, you know, 419 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:51,960 Speaker 1: somewhat of a sacred term and a thing that people 420 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 1: have waited for four hundreds of years, and too you know, 421 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:56,840 Speaker 1: even in the local level kind of water it down 422 00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:59,200 Speaker 1: to a housing plan, even at the first effort. I 423 00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: know this is the first plan. We take these cribs 424 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 1: and hope that we're going to get more crumbs later 425 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:06,360 Speaker 1: instead of just saying, you know what, we deserve a 426 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,880 Speaker 1: whole piece of game. The measure passed, with Fleming the 427 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: only no vote. I think it is a good housing plan. 428 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,560 Speaker 1: I think people will use it and need it um. 429 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:18,680 Speaker 1: But I want them to reach hire right. I want 430 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 1: black votes to want freedom afterwards. The reparations experts, Kirsten 431 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: Mullen and Sandy Daity continue to argue that Evanston's program 432 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:33,400 Speaker 1: wasn't actually reparations. In an OpEd in the Washington Post, 433 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:37,680 Speaker 1: they wrote, true reparations only can come from a full 434 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:43,000 Speaker 1: scale program of acknowledgement, redress, and closure for a grievous injustice. 435 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:47,160 Speaker 1: This is an argument over more than just semantics. It's 436 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,800 Speaker 1: an argument over what's possible and what's necessary and how 437 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 1: far America will go. Should reparations the word the idea 438 00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:00,000 Speaker 1: be reserved for that big debt owed by the federal government, 439 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,840 Speaker 1: the three hundred thousand dollars or more that would close 440 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,200 Speaker 1: the racial wealth gap, or can it also be smaller 441 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:11,400 Speaker 1: efforts to redress local injustice. Evanston's answered that for itself, 442 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 1: Robin and our colleagues say that what they're doing has 443 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:19,360 Speaker 1: to be just a first step. Robin decided not to 444 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,720 Speaker 1: run for reelection, so she'll give up her seat in May, 445 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:26,880 Speaker 1: but she'll be a community member of Evanston's new reparations Committee, 446 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,760 Speaker 1: an adviser on other local initiatives, and an advocate for 447 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:36,480 Speaker 1: HR forty. So we are moving forward knowing that this 448 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:40,360 Speaker 1: is not going to bring us full repair. We understand 449 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:45,560 Speaker 1: that more reparation programming is necessary. We understand that black 450 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,440 Speaker 1: residents need access to cash and deserve it, But we 451 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,600 Speaker 1: also understand that this is a process and waiting any 452 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:58,520 Speaker 1: longer is irresponsibility. The reactions in Evanston shouldn't be surprising. 453 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:03,160 Speaker 1: Restitution is complex and emotional, and at the local level 454 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,600 Speaker 1: won't ever be enough. The city council expects that by 455 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:10,120 Speaker 1: the fall it will have selected the first group of 456 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 1: black residents to receive the housing grants. Policymakers and citizens, 457 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:31,880 Speaker 1: advocates and critics will be watching, evaluating, maybe hoping the 458 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: US were to go down the path of federal reparations, 459 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:37,680 Speaker 1: it could look to other countries that have paid money 460 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: to populations that have been harmed. Next week on The Paycheck, 461 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 1: we had to the UK, where the government is in 462 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,800 Speaker 1: the midst of what it's calling a compensation scheme for 463 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:50,400 Speaker 1: its black residents. It's less of a model that a 464 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 1: cautionary tale. There are a number of problems with the 465 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:56,960 Speaker 1: compensation scheme, and if the obvious one is that the 466 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:02,480 Speaker 1: scheme itself lacks independence. The Hostile Environment policy was a 467 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:07,840 Speaker 1: policy discriminated against immigrants to this country, and it was 468 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:10,240 Speaker 1: a policy that was implemented by the UK government. So 469 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:12,880 Speaker 1: there is a bit of a case of the government 470 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:21,240 Speaker 1: marking its own homework. Thanks for listening to The Paycheck. 471 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:24,840 Speaker 1: If you like the show, please rate, review, and subscribe 472 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:28,479 Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was hosted by 473 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:33,280 Speaker 1: me Rebecca Greenfield and me Jackie Simmons. Today's episode was 474 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:37,680 Speaker 1: edited by Janet Paskin and reported by Susan Berfield with 475 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:41,240 Speaker 1: the help of Jordan Holman. We also want to thank 476 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: all of our listeners who took the time to call 477 00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:48,240 Speaker 1: or send in voice memos about reparations. This episode was 478 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:51,440 Speaker 1: produced by Magnus Hendrickson. We also had production help from 479 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 1: Lindsay Craddowell, an editing help from francesco Leabe Rocksheeta Soluja, 480 00:32:55,840 --> 00:33:00,400 Speaker 1: Jackie Simmons, David Sheer and me. Original music is by 481 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:04,640 Speaker 1: Leo Sidrien. Francesca Levie is Bloomberg's head of podcasts. We'll 482 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:25,760 Speaker 1: see you next time, m